JPS59146902A - Metallic hydride reaction vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

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 storage or supply devices and heat pumps that utilize the characteristics of metal hydrides.

In such metal hydride apparatuses, various reaction vessels have been proposed in the past for filling metal hydrides. However, conventional reaction vessels, for example,
As disclosed in No. 101497, a hydrogen-permeable metal hydride container is housed in a pressure-resistant container equipped with a hydrogen inlet/outlet, and a metal hydride is filled and housed in the container,
Because the container is configured with pipes for heating and cooling the metal hydride, the reaction container has to become complicated and large, making it unsuitable for use as a small reaction container. In addition, there was a problem in that the hydrogen diffusivity in the metal hydride packed layer in the container was poor. In addition, special public service 57-4
．． No. 9799 discloses a reaction vessel in which a pressure vessel filled with a metal hydride is installed in a heat medium tank for heating and cooling, but the heat exchange performance between the heat medium and the pressure vessel is insufficient. In particular, it cannot be used as a reaction vessel using a gas such as the atmosphere as a heat medium. Furthermore, the pressure resistance of the pressure container is not sufficient.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can be used as a small-sized hydrogen storage or supply device without requiring a pipe or the like for heating and cooling metal hydride in a container. In addition to being suitable for use, it has excellent heat exchange performance between the container and the heat medium that heats and cools it, as well as thermal conductivity within the container, and therefore, for example, when storing and filling hydrogen into metal hydrides, etc. The object of the present invention is to provide a metal hydride reaction vessel that allows metal hydrides to react smoothly and quickly.

The metal hydride reaction container of the present invention has an outer container, a hydrogen inlet/outlet at one end, and an inner container inserted into the outer container, and a container that penetrates between the inner container and the outer container in the axial direction of the container. It is characterized by comprising a plurality of fins forming a plurality of heat medium passages.

The present invention will be described below based on drawings showing examples.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 1--A in FIG. 1. The inner pressure-resistant container 1 filled with metal hydride is usually made of copper, stainless steel, aluminum, etc., although it is not particularly limited as long as it has hydrogen embrittlement resistance. A connector 3, which can be opened and closed, is installed. Filters are used to prevent hydrogen from scattering outside the container when releasing hydrogen, as metal hydrides generally become fine to a particle size of several microns as they repeatedly absorb and release hydrogen. However, in order to prevent metal hydrides from passing through, it is usually made of a sintered metal or porous resin material that has a filtration performance of several microns. Also,
The connector 2 described above is not particularly limited, but
It is preferable that the connector be normally closed, but automatically open when connected to another connector on the hydrogen use side (not shown) to form a hydrogen pipeline between the connectors. A pair of male and female connectors having such a function are already known and commercially available.

In the metal hydride reaction container of the present invention, a plurality of fins 4 protrude in the radial direction from the outer wall of the inner container, extend in the axial direction of the container, and have their outer ends located outside where the inner container is coaxially inserted. It is fixed to the inner wall of the container 5, and in this way, a plurality of heat medium passages 6 partitioned by fins are formed between the inner container and the outer container. In this way, the inner container and outer container are integrally connected through the fins,
For example, it can be easily manufactured as follows. That is, first, by extrusion molding of aluminum, for example, an integral structure consisting of an inner container with open ends, an outer container, and fins, the cross section of which is open at both ends, is manufactured, and then this structure is The bottom plate 7 is joined to one open end by welding or the like, and after this inner container is filled with metal hydride, the lid body 8 is joined to the other open end by welding or the like, and the connector is attached to this lid body. It is installed.

According to the reaction vessel of the present invention, when hydrogen is stored in the metal hydride, for example, a cooling medium such as air or cold air is passed through the heating medium passage, and the metal hydride is heated to absorb metal hydrogen. When hydrogen is released from the compound, a heating medium such as the atmosphere or hot air is passed through the heating medium passage.

The reaction vessel of the present invention can thus be suitably used to charge hydrogen into a metal hydride at atmospheric temperature or to release hydrogen, and can thus be used for a metal hydride capable of releasing a metal hydride at atmospheric temperature. hydrides are known. Present invention 6/
For example, in order to supply hydrogen at room temperature as a hydrogen supply device for analytical instruments, the metal hydride preferably has a hydrogen dissociation equilibrium pressure of 1.2 at a temperature of 20 to 25°C.
~10 atm was chosen, therefore MmNiAI
MmNiMn, LaNi, and MmNiMn alloys are preferably used. Here, Mm is Mitsushi metal, which is a mixture of rare earth elements.

However, the metal hydride used in the device of the present invention is
The heating medium is not limited to one that can discharge or fill hydrogen using the atmosphere as a heating and cooling medium, and therefore, the heating medium for heating and cooling is not limited to the atmosphere at all. For example, water may be used to cool the metal hydride, and hot water may be supplied to the heat medium path when the metal hydride is heated.

In the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, in order to smoothly and quickly diffuse hydrogen within the inner vessel, the inner vessel has a porous wall that allows hydrogen to permeate but not metal hydride. While supporting the quality tube 9 with metal hydride,
The porous tube can be arranged along the axis of the container to form a hydrogen passage.
Polyethylene having a porosity of 0 to 80%, a filtration performance of several microns, and preferably elasticity so as to be able to absorb volumetric expansion during hydrogen storage of metal hydrides as described above; It is manufactured from a porous synthetic resin such as polypropylene or polytetrafluoroethylene. As illustrated, the porous tube may be sealed at both ends, but it may also have an open end at -tm, and this open end may be hermetically connected to the filter.

Furthermore, if necessary, although not shown, a metal coil or a fiber material may be inserted into the porous tube. This is to prevent the porous tube from being crushed by the volume expansion of the metal hydride as described above.

In addition to glass fibers, carbon fibers, ceramic fibers, metal fibers, etc., organic fibers such as polyamide are also used as fiber materials, and these fiber materials are usually in the form of cotton or fiber bundles such as yarn bundles or ropes. The material is inserted into a porous tube along its axial direction.

Furthermore, in the reaction vessel of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the outer fins 4 extending radially from the outer wall of the inner vessel 1, the inner vessel 1 has fins 4 extending radially from the inner wall of the inner vessel and extending axially. It may have an inner fin 10 that extends;
These inner fins can increase thermal conductivity between the metal hydrides in the inner container and between the metal hydrides and the inner container, and can support the porous tube 9 at the tips of the inner fins. .

According to the uninvented metal hydride reaction vessel, as described above, the inner vessel filled with metal hydride is fixed to the outer vessel by a plurality of fins extending in the radial direction of the inner vessel, and these fins connect the inner vessel to the outside. Since a plurality of heat medium passages are formed between the inner vessel and the inner vessel, when the heat medium is passed through the plurality of heat medium passages when heating and cooling the metal hydride in the inner vessel, the heat medium and the inner vessel are heated and cooled. It has high heat exchange performance with the metal hydride, and can quickly perform the required metal hydride reaction, especially the exothermic reaction that causes the metal hydride to absorb hydrogen. Therefore, unlike conventional reaction vessels, it is not necessary to install pipes or the like in the inner vessel for heating and cooling the metal hydride, and therefore it is suitable for use as a small reaction vessel and can be carried portable. It is also convenient. Furthermore, since the inner container is integrally connected to the outer container by a plurality of fins, pressure resistance is also improved.

Moreover, when looking at the reaction container of the present invention from its manufacturing aspect,
As described above, the structure consisting of the inner container, the outer container, and the fins can be easily manufactured by extrusion molding of aluminum, for example, and therefore has excellent productivity.

Further, according to the present invention, by arranging a porous pipe in the inner container to constitute a hydrogen passage, a passage for hydrogen in the inner container is ensured, and hydrogen circulation and diffusion in the container is facilitated. In addition, if this porous tube is filled with fiber material or metal coils, the porous tube will not be crushed even when hydrogen is absorbed by the metal hydride, so the reactivity of the metal hydride will be high and the durability will be improved. It can also be used as a hollow reaction vessel.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an axial sectional view showing an embodiment of the metal hydride reaction vessel of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing another embodiment. It is. 1... Inner container, 2... Filter, 3... Connector, 4... Outer fin, 5... Outer container, 6...
Heat medium passage, 7... porous tube, 10... inner fin. Patent applicant Mototoshi Fujinuma, Representative of Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An outer container, an inner container having a hydrogen inlet/outlet at one end and inserted into the outer container, and a plurality of heat medium passages penetrating in the axial direction of the container between the inner container and the outer container. A metal hydride reaction vessel characterized by comprising a plurality of fins.