Hydrogen storage container and mixture therein

a technology of hydrogen storage containers and hydrogen storage mixtures, which is applied in the directions of transportation and packaging, separation processes, and packaged goods types, etc., can solve the problems of difficult heat transfer into/out of hydride beds, poor conductivity of hydrogen storage alloys, and the hydrogen-absorbing method, so as to increase the thermal conductivity of solid beds and large surface area , good thermal conductivity

US20060081483A1Inactive Publication Date: 2006-04-20ZHEJIANG UNIV +1
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
US · United States
Patent Type
Applications(United States)
Current Assignee / Owner
Publication Date
2006-04-20
Estimated Expiration
Not applicable · inactive patent

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Abstract

This invention relates to a new kind of hydrogen storage mixture and container thereof. This hydrogen storage container consists of a container casing, a hydrogen storage mixture and a valve. The hydrogen storage mixture loaded inside the container is made of hydrogen storage alloy granules and metal fibers and / or non-hydrogen-absorbing alloy fibers that do not absorb hydrogen. The non-hydrogen-absorbing fibers are dispersed among the hydrogen storage alloy granules and form a network structure. The non-hydrogen-absorbing fibers include non-hydrogen-absorbing metal fibers and / or non-hydrogen-absorbing alloy fibers, or their mixture. In the hydrogen storage mixture, the weight ratio of the non-hydrogen-absorbing fibers to the hydrogen storage alloys is about 0.01˜0.1. The hydrogen storage installation adopting the technology of this invention can effectively prevent the metal hydride granules from moving over a comparatively long distance and accumulating in some locations in the container during hydriding and dehydriding, and also can improve the thermal conductivity of the hydrogen storage mixture inside the container. The hydrogen storage container of this invention is easy to manufacture, safe to use, and low in cost. This invention can be used for the manufacture of hydrogen storage containers for hydrogen storage, transport, compression and purification.
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Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to hydrogen storage, transport and compression technology, more specifically, to a hydrogen storage equipment and a related hydrogen storage mixture. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

[0002] Hydrogen is an important industrial raw material. It is also an ideal clean fuel and a secondary energy source for the future. Presently, there are three main methods for storing and transporting hydrogen, namely high-pressure containers (steel or aluminum alloy tanks), liquid hydrogen containers (low temperature Dewar flasks) and metal hydride hydrogen storage containers. The most distinct advantages for using metal hydride hydrogen storage containers to store and transport hydrogen are its higher level of storage and transport safety, and the higher volume hydrogen storage density (the mass of hydrogen stored in a definite container volume) than storage in a high pressure container or in a liquid hydrogen storage container of the same vo...

Examples

example 1

[0040] A hydrogen storage container consists of a container casing, a hydrogen storage mixture and a valve. The hydrogen storage mixture loaded into the container is made of hydrogen storage alloy granules and non-hydrogen-absorbing aluminum fibers. Hydrogen storage alloy MmNi4.5Mn0.5 used in this example belongs to the rare-earth based hydrogen storage alloys; Mm stands for the cerium-rich mischmetal. The ingots of MmNi4.5Mn0.5 should be crushed into small granules with a diameter of about 3 mm before being loaded into the container. The average length of the aluminum fibers is about 3 mm and average cross section is about 0.5 square millimeters. The total weight of aluminum fibers is about one percent of the total weight of hydrogen storage alloy granules. The bulk specific weight of the mixture is 3.6 g·cm−3. The operation of the hydrogen storage container is as follows. At first, the pressure in the container is adjusted to 133 Pa. Then, hydrogen of 99.99% purity is filled into ...

example 2

[0042] The hydrogen storage alloy for the granules in the mixture is the titanium-based alloy TiFe0.85Mn0.15. The non-hydrogen-absorbing alloy fibers are made of brass, with an average length of 11 mm and average cross section 1.2 mm2. The weight ratio of brass fibers to hydrogen storage alloy granules is about 0.05. The bulk specific weight of the mixture is 3.0 g·cm−3. The process of activation and initial charging is similar to those of Example 1. The test results show that the hydrogen storage capacity is 1.7%. Neither damage nor deformation of the container have been detected after 1000 hydriding / dehydriding cycles.

example 3

[0043] Magnesium based alloy Mg2Ni is used for the hydrogen storage alloy in the mixture of this example. The non-hydrogen-absorbing alloy for making alloy fibers is nickel alloy. The average length of the nickel alloy fibers is 20 mm, and their average cross sectional area is 2 mm2. The weight ratio of the nickel alloy fibers to the hydrogen storage magnesium based alloy is about 0.1. The size of hydrogen storage alloy granules initially loaded into the containers should be under 5 mm in diameter. The bulk density of the mixture is 2.2 g·cm−3. In this example, pre-heating of the container is necessary for hydrogen absorbing and desorbing. The container is heated to 300° C. and the pressure is adjusted to 50 Pa before the initial charging of hydrogen. Then, the container is charged with hydrogen of 99.99% purity at a pressure of 3.0 MPa. Then, the activation and hydriding of Mg2Ni can be started. During hydriding, Mg2Ni transforms to Mg2NiH4. The test results show that the hydrogen ...