Heat exchanger selection and design analyses for metal hydride heat pump systems

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2016 · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.01.016· OSTI ID:1240016

Mazzucco, Andrea ^[1]; Voskuilen, Tyler G. ^[2]; Waters, Essene L. ^[3]; Pourpoint, Timothee L. ^[3]; Rokni, Masoud ^[1]

---

1. Technical Univ. of Denmark, Kongens-Lyngby (Denmark)
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
3. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)

This paper presents a design analysis for the development of highly efficient heat exchangers within stationary metal hydride heat pumps. The design constraints and selected performance criteria are applied to three representative heat exchangers. The proposed thermal model can be applied to select the most efficient heat exchanger design and provides outcomes generally valid in a pre-design stage. Heat transfer effectiveness is the principal performance parameter guiding the selection analysis, the results of which appear to be mildly (up to 13%) affected by the specific Nusselt correlation used. The thermo-physical properties of the heat transfer medium and geometrical parameters are varied in the sensitivity analysis, suggesting that the length of independent tubes is the physical parameter that influences the performance of the heat exchangers the most. The practical operative regions for each heat exchanger are identified by finding the conditions over which the heat removal from the solid bed enables a complete and continuous hydriding reaction. The most efficient solution is a design example that achieves the target effectiveness of 95%.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1240016
• Report Number(s): SAND2016-0086J; 617590
• Journal Information: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, Issue 7; ISSN 0360-3199
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

08 HYDROGEN
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION