JPS59141402A - Metal hydride reactor vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:The titled reactor vessel that is provided inside with a porous tube which permeates hydrogen but not metal hydride and contains a fibrous material or metallic coils, thus avoiding its own breakage by the volume expansion of the hydride and maintaining the paths for hydrogen. CONSTITUTION:The tubular pressure vessel 2 is made of copper, stainless steel or aluminum resistant to the volume change of the metal hydride on its absorption and release of hydrogen and to the hydrogen pressure, further has an opening 1 at the top end for passing through hydrogen and a cross-sectional diaphragm 3 near the opening 1. A porous tube 4 which permeates hydrogen but not the metal hydride is air-tightly fixed to the opening of the diaphragm 3 at one opening end 5 and the other end is extended to the bottom the vessel 2 and closed to form the path for hydrogen. In general, the opening end of the tube 4 is equipped with a filter 6 which permeate hydrogen but not the metal hydride. The porous tube 4 is filled with a fibrous material such as glass or carbon fibers 7 so that the tube may not be crushed by the volume expansion of the hydride on hydrogen absorption.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to metal hydride reaction vessels.

It is known that certain metals and alloys exothermically absorb hydrogen to form metal hydrides, and that these metal hydrides reversibly and endothermically release hydrogen. Various metal hydride devices have been proposed, such as hydrogen supply devices and heat pumps, which utilize the characteristics of metal hydrides.

In such a metal hydride device, metal hydride is filled in a closed reaction vessel to absorb and release hydrogen. FIG. 1 shows a conventional example of such a metal hydride reaction vessel, which includes a pressure vessel 2 having a hydrogen inlet/outlet 1 at one end.
is a partition wall 3 that does not allow hydrogen to permeate in the vicinity of the hydrogen inlet/outlet.
, which has a porous tube 4 in the transverse direction of the container and which permeates hydrogen but not metal hydrides, is airtightly supported at its open end 5 in the through hole of the partition wall, and its rear end extends to the bottom of the container. It extends along the container axis and forms a hydrogen passageway. The open end of this porous tube is normally connected to the hydrogen inlet/outlet of the container via a filter 6 that permeates hydrogen but not metal hydrides. The metal hydride fills the space outside the porous tube within the container.

In such a metal hydride container, when the metal hydride absorbs hydrogen, hydrogen enters the pipe from the open end of the porous tube through the hydrogen inlet/outlet of the container, passes through the filter, is distributed inside the container by the porous tube, and is absorbed into the metal hydride. During hydrogen release, the hydrogen released from the metal hydride enters the porous tube and is led out of the container from the hydrogen inlet/outlet through the open end of the porous tube.

Here, the porous tube has a diameter of 40 to 8 to allow only hydrogen to pass through.
It has a porosity of 0%, has a filtration performance of several microns, and absorbs volume changes when metal hydride absorbs and releases hydrogen.
They are often made of elastic synthetic resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polytetrafluoroethylene so as to relieve stress on the pressure container.

However, according to such a reaction vessel, the metal hydride expands in volume when it absorbs hydrogen, and at this time the porous tube is crushed regardless of its elastic restoring force, and is used as a hydrogen passage. It may stop working. For this reason, if the porosity is reduced to increase the strength of the porous tube, the pressure loss during hydrogen flow will increase.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a metal hydride reaction vessel in which a porous tube can well withstand stress during expansion of metal hydride and will not be crushed. With the goal.

The metal hydride reaction container of the present invention includes a container having a hydrogen inlet/outlet at one end, and a porous tube extending in the axial direction of the container and permeating hydrogen but not metal hydride. The porous tube is filled with a fiber material or a metal coil.

The present invention will be explained below based on the drawings showing flexible embodiments.

In the drawings, the same members as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, and the tubular pressure vessel 2 is resistant to volume changes and hydrogen pressure when the metal hydride absorbs and releases hydrogen, and has hydrogen embrittlement resistance. Although not particularly limited, it is usually made of copper, stainless steel, aluminum, etc., and as described above, has a hydrogen inlet/outlet 1 at its front end, and a partition wall 3 extending across the container in proximity to this inlet/outlet. A porous tube 4 that is permeable to hydrogen but not permeable to metal hydrides is hermetically fixed at one open end 5 to the through hole in the partition wall, and the other end extends in the axial direction of the container to the bottom of the container. It is sealed and forms a hydrogen passage. In order to prevent the metal hydride from scattering outside the container as the metal hydride absorbs and releases hydrogen, hydrogen usually passes through the open end of the porous tube.
A filter 6, which is impermeable to metal hydrides, is attached to the open end of the porous tube. The filter is made of, for example, sintered metal or porous resin, and has a filtration performance of several microns.

In the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, the porous tube is filled with fibrous material 7 so as not to be crushed by the volumetric expansion of the metal hydride when it absorbs hydrogen.

As the fiber material, in addition to glass fiber, carbon fiber, ceramic fiber, metal fiber, etc., organic fibers such as polyamide are also used, and the voids between the fiber materials form hydrogen passages. These fibrous materials are preferably charged so as to extend in the axial direction of the porous tube in the form of yarn bundles, ropes, etc., so that hydrogen can easily flow in the axial direction of the porous tube. However, the embodiment of the fibrous material is not limited to these.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, in which a fiber material 8 such as glass wool or ceramic fiber is placed close to the hydrogen inlet/outlet 1 of the vessel in place of the partition wall.
are packed in layers in the transverse direction to constitute the filter 6,
The porous tube 4 has its opening @5 inserted into this layer of fibrous material and communicates with the hydrogen inlet/outlet of the container through this fibrous material, and the porous tube itself is connected to the metal hydride filled in the container. The inner center of the container ζ is supported by Furthermore, in this embodiment, a metal coil 9 is inserted in the porous tube instead of the fiber material, so that the porous tube can withstand the volumetric expansion of the metal hydride in the same way as the fiber material.

Moreover, FIG. 4 shows yet another embodiment. Container 2 is the second
Similar to the embodiment shown in the figure, it has a partition wall 3 extending across the container in proximity to the hydrogen inlet/outlet port 1, and a filter 6 is attached to this partition wall. Both ends of the porous tube 4 are sealed, and the inside 11+ is filled with a fiber material 7, and one sealed end is placed close to the filter.
- Supported by the metal hydride itself within the container. In the case of this container, when the metal hydride absorbs hydrogen, hydrogen passes through the filter, enters the porous tube with low hydrogen permeation resistance from the packed layer of metal hydride, and is distributed in the axial direction of the container by the porous tube. After that, it diffuses back into the packed layer of metal hydride. When hydrogen is released from the metal hydride, the hydrogen enters the porous tube, passes through the metal hydride packed bed again, and heads from the filter to the hydrogen inlet/outlet.

It goes without saying that in the present invention, hydrogen inlets and outlets can be provided at both ends of the pressure vessel to allow hydrogen to flow through each inlet and outlet as described above.

Furthermore, in the present invention, an appropriate number of fins (not shown) extending in the radial direction from the inner wall of the container may be provided in the container as necessary to increase the thermal conductivity between the metal hydride and the container wall. can.

According to the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, as described above, since the fiber material or the metal coil is inserted into the porous tube, even if the metal hydride expands in volume when absorbing hydrogen, the porous tube remains unchanged. There is no crushing, and a passage for hydrogen can be secured within the tube.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view showing a conventional metal hydride reaction vessel, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are axial sectional views showing the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Hydrogen inlet/outlet, 2... Pressure-resistant container, 3... Partition wall, 4... Porous pipe, 5... Porous pipe opening end, 6...
・Filter, 7... Fiber material, 8... Fiber material, 9
...Metal coil. Patent applicant Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd. Representative Mototoshi Fujinuma Figure 2: Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (11) A container having a hydrogen inlet/outlet at one end, a porous tube disposed extending in the axial direction of the container and permeable to hydrogen but not permeable to metal hydride, and filled in the porous tube. A metal hydride reaction vessel characterized by being made of a fibrous material or a metal coil.