Dihydrogen Generator Joule Heating Catalysis Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dihydrogen generators are unsuitable for rapid hydrogen generation due to inefficient heating methods, which hinder their application in automotive fuel cells requiring instant hydrogen supply, and they often suffer from slow dehydrogenation kinetics and difficulty in quickly stopping the reaction.
Innovation Solution
A dihydrogen generator with a catalysis support heated by Joule effect using electrically conductive materials, allowing rapid and controlled heating of the catalysis support, enabling quick dehydrogenation and instantaneous regulation of hydrogen generation, utilizing a porous catalysis support with a high surface area catalyst and a movable catalysis housing for efficient gas flow management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by stationary object
If heating means are arranged radially outside the feed tube to heat the rich LOHC, then the heating is more localized and avoids heating the entire volume, but the heating means must reach a set temperature well before the LOHC flows into the feed tube, resulting in slow response time for instantaneous hydrogen demand
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the heating function from the external heating means and integrates it directly into the catalysis support structure. The heating means are now embedded within the catalysis support, allowing immediate heating of the LOHC as it contacts the support, eliminating the delay associated with external heating means needing to reach temperature first.
Solution Approach 2:
The catalysis support is pre-integrated with heating means, so the heating capability is already in place and ready to activate immediately when LOHC flows through. This preliminary integration of heating functionality eliminates the need for separate heating means to warm up before the LOHC arrives.
2Reliability
If the entire volume of rich LOHC is heated to trigger catalyzed dehydrogenation, then the dehydrogenation reaction can be initiated, but the reactor is unsuitable for applications requiring rapid generation of dihydrogen and cannot meet instantaneous demand
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies heating locally at the catalysis support where the LOHC flows through, rather than heating the entire volume of LOHC in the reactor. This localized heating approach enables rapid dehydrogenation at the point of contact, significantly increasing the hydrogen generation rate and enabling instantaneous response.
3Temperature
If heating means are arranged radially outside the feed tube, then the heating targets the circulating LOHC, but the membrane induces a pressure drop which slows down the kinetics of LOHC dehydrogenation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the membrane component that causes pressure drop and instead integrates heating means directly into the catalysis support. This eliminates the bottleneck created by the membrane while maintaining effective heating, thereby preserving fast dehydrogenation kinetics.
4Reliability
If it is necessary to heat the entire volume of rich LOHC, then the dehydrogenation reaction can be triggered throughout the volume, but it is difficult to quickly cool the entire volume, so the dehydrogenation reaction cannot be stopped quickly
Solution Approach 1:
The invention confines the heating action to the local region of the catalysis support where LOHC flows through, rather than heating the entire reactor volume. This localized heating enables rapid initiation of dehydrogenation and equally rapid termination by simply stopping the heating supply, providing excellent operational control.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables rapid heating of the catalysis support to initiate dihydrogen generation within seconds, meeting the instantaneous demand of automotive applications and allowing for precise control over hydrogen flow, ensuring efficient energy production in fuel cells.
Implementation Method 1
the heating means is configured to heat the catalysis support by Joule effect
Implementation Method 2
the catalysis support comprises an electrically conductive material
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Dihydrogen generator (5) comprising: - a chamber (10) defining an interior chamber space (15) for containing a reactive liquid (30) capable of generating dihydrogen upon contact with a catalyst, - a porous catalysis support (20) housed in the interior chamber space, the catalysis support being porous and impregnable by the reactive liquid and comprising a catalyst for the reaction of generating dihydrogen from the reactive liquid, - a heating means (70), the catalysis support being configured to be heated by the heating means other than heat transfer consisting of convective heat exchange with the reactive liquid and conductive heat exchange with the reactive liquid and radiation from a thermal source distant from the catalysis support.