JPH0436081B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a metal hydride container suitable for hydrogen storage devices, heat storage devices, heat pumps, and the like.

(b) Prior art Metal hydrides have the ability to absorb and release large amounts of hydrogen gas, and are known to release and absorb a considerable amount of heat when absorbing and releasing hydrogen gas. . Utilizing these properties, there are currently many attempts to apply metal hydrides to heat storage devices, hydrogen storage devices, and the like. Note that a metal hydride becomes a metal by dehydrogenation, and this case is also referred to as a metal hydride in this specification.

In this case, since the metal hydride undergoes a reaction under hydrogen pressure, a pressure-resistant container is required. Furthermore, in order to increase the efficiency of the properties of the metal hydride, it is necessary to suppress heat loss due to sensible heat throughout the container.

Taking these points into consideration, conventionally, for example,
- As seen in Publication No. 90, it has been proposed that a heat insulating material layer is formed inside a pressure-resistant container, and a metal hydride is housed therein together with a heat exchange fluid pipe.

However, metal hydrides generally become pulverized as they repeatedly absorb and release hydrogen, eventually becoming a powder of several microns. Therefore, according to the conventional container structure described above, a part of the metal hydride powder scatters and enters the gap between the heat insulating layers, making it impossible to obtain the designed heat exchange efficiency. In addition, since metal hydrides generally have low thermal conductivity, it is necessary to provide heat transfer fins to promote heat transfer, but if heat transfer fins with a complicated shape are provided in the conventional structure described above, There was a drawback that it was difficult to uniformly distribute and store the metal hydride inside the container.

(c) Problems to be Solved by the Invention An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art and provide a metal hydride container with excellent heat exchange efficiency.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, the present invention provides a holder for holding metal hydride with a hydrogen flow path interposed in a pressure-resistant container to prevent metal hydride powder from scattering into the hydrogen flow path. In addition, a metal hydride inlet is provided on the top surface of the metal hydride holder, so that the metal hydride can be evenly distributed and stored between the heat transfer fins attached to the heat medium path inside the container. It is a feature.

(E) Effect By providing a metal hydride holding body and storing the metal hydride therein together with the heat transfer tube with heat transfer fins, it is possible to prevent the metal hydride from scattering, and also to prevent the heat medium flowing through the heat transfer tube. Heat transfer between the metal hydride and the metal hydride is carried out smoothly through the heat transfer fins. Further, since a hydrogen flow path exists between the pressure vessel and the metal hydride holder, heat leakage to the pressure vessel is prevented, and sensible heat loss due to the vessel is suppressed. Furthermore, the metal hydride can be uniformly stored inside the holder through the inlet provided on the upper surface of the holder despite the presence of heat transfer fins.

(f) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a metal hydride container according to an embodiment of the present invention, and 1 is a pressure container. This pressure-resistant container 1 consists of a container body 11 that stores a metal hydride 2 and a lid 12, and its flange portions 11a and 12a are joined with bolts 3 and nuts 4 to maintain an airtight and pressure-resistant interior. are doing. A heat transfer tube 5 is disposed that airtightly penetrates the main body side end surface 11b of the pressure vessel 1 and the approximate center of the lid 12 to flow a heat medium, and further supplies and discharges hydrogen gas to the lid 12. A hydrogen inlet/outlet conduit 6 is formed.

A hydrogen flow path 7 is formed inside the pressure vessel 1, and the metal hydride 2 is held around the heat transfer tube 5 by a metal hydride holding body 9 together with heat transfer fins 8 inside the hydrogen flow path 7.

2a to 2c show a plan view, a front view, and a right side view of the metal hydride holder 9, respectively, and the metal hydride holder 9 has a main body portion 9a that holds the metal hydride 2 It consists of a lid part 9b and a main body part 9.
a is, for example, the diameter of the metal hydride support 9 of 10 cm,
In the case of a scale of 1 m in length, it is formed of a stainless steel plate with a thickness of about 1 mm, and a metal hydride inlet 10 is provided on the cylindrical surface of the stainless steel plate. However, this metal hydride inlet 10 is closed after the metal hydride 2 is charged and filled into the metal hydride holding body 9, as will be described later.
The lid portion 9b is composed of a filter plate that allows hydrogen to pass through but not metal hydrides. In this case, the end surface 9c of the main body portion 9a may also be constructed from a filter plate, and furthermore, the entire body including the main body portion 9a may be constructed from a filter plate.

When assembling a metal hydride container with the above configuration, first, heat transfer fins 8 made of, for example, an aluminum alloy are welded to the heat transfer tube 5. This heat transfer fin 8 is
By forming a disk shape with a hole corresponding to the outer diameter of the heat transfer tube 5 in the center, passing it through the heat transfer tube 5, and welding it at regular intervals,
Easy to place and form.

Next, the main body part 9a of the holder 9, which has a hole similar to the heat transfer fins 8 in the center of the end surface 9c, is passed through the heat exchanger tube 5, and at the same time, from the opposite side, the lid part 9b of the holder 9 is inserted into the heat exchanger tube. 5, and with the heat transfer fins 8 housed inside, the joints between the main body side surface 9c, the lid portion 9b, and the heat transfer tubes 5 are welded to form the holder 9.

The metal hydride 2 is fed from the metal hydride inlet 10 provided on the cylindrical surface of the main body 9a of the holder 9.
Evenly place between each heat transfer fin 8. After storing the metal hydride 2, the metal hydride inlet 10 is closed in order to completely retain the metal hydride.

Next, in the same manner as forming the holder 9 on the heat exchanger tube 5, the main body 11 and the lid 12 of the pressure container 1 are passed through the heat exchanger tube 5 from opposite directions. The flanges 11a and 12a are tightened and joined with bolts 3 and nuts 4, and the container body side end surface 11b,
The metal hydride container can be assembled by joining the lid portion 12 and the heat exchanger tube 5 by welding or the like.

In addition, as the metal hydride 2 repeatedly absorbs and releases hydrogen gas, it gradually becomes pulverized and the heat exchange efficiency decreases, so if you want to disassemble the metal hydride container in order to exchange the metal hydride 2, etc. Needless to say, it can be easily disassembled by reversing the assembly method described above.

Next, the heat exchange function of the metal hydride container assembled as described above will be explained. That is, during heat storage, the heat from the heat medium flowing through the heat transfer tubes 5 is
The heat is uniformly transferred to the metal hydride 2 via the heat transfer fins 8. By supplying heat from this heating medium, the metal hydride 2 is dehydrogenated and returns to the original metal. Further, the generated hydrogen gas is taken out from the hydrogen flow path 7 to the hydrogen inlet/output conduit 6 via the filter part of the holder 9,
It is stored in a hydrogen cylinder (not shown). On the other hand, during heat dissipation, hydrogen gas supplied from the hydrogen in/out conduit 6 through the hydrogen flow path 7 and through the filter section of the holder 9 is
It combines with metal hydride 2 to generate heat. This generated heat is transferred from the heat transfer tube 5 to the heat medium via the heat transfer fins 8, and is taken out and used outside.

In this way, in the metal hydride container of this embodiment, the metal hydride 2 is held by the holder 9 and housed in the pressure container 1. This prevents the metal hydride 2 from scattering into the hydrogen flow path 7, and allows smooth heat transfer between the heat medium flowing through the heat transfer tube 5 and the metal hydride 2 via the heat transfer fins 8. It will be done. Also, due to the presence of the hydrogen flow path 7, the holding body 9
Heat leakage from the pressure vessel 1 to the pressure vessel 1 is prevented, and sensible heat loss due to the vessel is suppressed. In addition, the metal hydride 2 is uniformly distributed and stored between the heat transfer fins 8 inside the holder 9 through the metal hydride inlet 10 provided on the cylindrical surface of the holder 9, allowing hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of the metal hydride. is carried out efficiently. As a result, heat exchange efficiency is significantly improved compared to conventional ones.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the present invention,
In the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 indicate the same or corresponding parts. The configuration of FIG. 3 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that the hydrogen channel 7 is filled with a heat insulating material 70 that allows hydrogen to pass through but not metal hydride, and that an inlet 10 is provided on the cylindrical surface of the holder 9. This is because the heat insulating material 70 is used to close the area.

By interposing the heat insulating material 70 between the pressure vessel 1 and the holder 9 as in this embodiment, heat leakage from the inside of the holder 9 to the pressure vessel 1 can be more completely prevented, and sensible heat loss due to the vessel can be prevented first. This can be suppressed to a smaller value than in the case of the embodiment. Further, by closing the input port 10 provided on the cylindrical surface of the holder 9 with the heat insulating material 70, the processing step of closing the input port 10 as in the previous embodiment can be omitted. However, it can be said that the previous embodiment is more efficient in supplying and discharging hydrogen gas to and from the metal hydride 2 in the holder 9. Other effects are the same as in the previous embodiment.

(G) Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the metal hydride holding body is provided and the metal hydride is housed and held therein together with the heat transfer fins, thereby preventing the metal hydride from scattering. At the same time, the metal hydride is stored and stored evenly between the heat transfer fins inside the holder by providing an inlet on the cylindrical surface of the holder and entering the metal hydride from there. A metal hydride container with extremely high heat exchange efficiency can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a metal hydride container according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a metal hydride holder, in which a is a plan view thereof, b is a front view thereof, and c is a right side thereof. The plan view and FIG. 3 are cross-sectional views of a metal hydride container according to another embodiment of the present invention. 1...Pressure container, 2...Metal hydride, 3...
Bolt, 4... Nut, 5... Heat transfer tube, 6... Hydrogen in/out conduit, 7... Hydrogen channel, 8... Heat transfer fin, 9... Holder, 10... Inlet, 70... Heat insulation Material.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A metal hydride container comprising a heat exchanger tube and a metal hydride stored around the heat exchanger tube in a pressure vessel equipped with a hydrogen inlet/output conduit, wherein the heat exchanger tube airtightly seals the pressure vessel. At the same time, a heat transfer fin is attached to the part of the heat transfer tube that exists inside the pressure vessel, and the outside of the heat transfer fin is covered with a cylindrical filter that allows hydrogen to pass through but not metal hydride. An inlet is provided on the surface of the metal hydride holder to store the metal hydride between the internal heat transfer fins, and a space is provided between the metal hydride holder and the pressure vessel to form a hydrogen flow path. A metal hydride container characterized by: 2. Claim 1 is characterized in that a heat insulating material is interposed in the space that allows hydrogen to pass through but not metal hydride, and the inlet port is closed by this heat insulating material. Metal hydride container.