Design of a hydrogen compressor for hydrogen fueling stations

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2019-11, Vol.44 (55), p.29329-29337
• Main Authors: Bhogilla, Satya Sekhar, Niyas, Hakeem
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Compression ratio; Heat and mass transfer; Hydrogen compressor; Metal hydrides
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.02.171

Hydrogen compressors dominate the hydrogen refueling station costs. Metal hydride based thermally driven hydrogen compressor (MHHC) is a promising technology for the compression of hydrogen. Selection of metal hydride alloys and reactor design have a great impact on the performance of the thermally driven MHHC. A thermal model is developed to study the performance characteristics of the two-stage MHHC at different operating conditions. The effects of heat source temperature and hydrogen supply pressure on the compression ratio and isentropic efficiency are investigated. Finite volume method is used for discretizing the reaction kinetics, continuity, momentum and energy equations. Metal hydrides selected for this analysis are Mm0.2La0.6Ca0.2Ni5 and Ti1.1Cr1.5Mn0.4V0.1. The thermal model was validated with the results extracted from an experimental study. Validation results demonstrated that the numerical results are in good agreement with the data reported in literature. •Numerical study of a two-stage metal hydride hydrogen compression system.•Performance is predicted at different supply pressures and desorption temperatures.•Maximum delivery pressure obtained is 365 bar at 150 °C.•Maximum compression ratio achieved is 26:1.