Metal hydride/chemical heat-pump development project. Phase I. Final report

Technical Report · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6732304· OSTI ID:6732304

Argabright, T. A.

The metal hydride/chemical heat pump (MHHP) is a chemical heat pump containing two hydrides for the storage and/or recovery of thermal energy. It utilizes the heat of reaction of hydrogen with specific metal alloys. The MHHP design can be tailored to provide heating and/or cooling or temperature upgrading over a wide range of input and ambient temperatures. The system can thus be used with a variety of heat sources including waste heat, solar energy or a fossil fuel. The conceptual design of the MHHP was developed. A national market survey including a study of applications and market sectors was conducted. The technical tasks including conceptual development, thermal and mechanical design, laboratory verification of design and material performance, cost analysis and the detailed design of the Engineering Development Test Unit (EDTU) were performed. As a result of the market study, the temperature upgrade cycle of the MHHP was chosen for development. Operating temperature ranges for the upgrader were selected to be from 70 to 110/sup 0/C (160 to 230/sup 0/F) for the source heat and 140 to 190/sup 0/C (280 to 375/sup 0/F) for the product heat. These ranges are applicable to many processes in industries such as food, textile, paper and pulp, and chemical. The hydride pair well suited for these temperatures is LaNi/sub 5//LaNi/sub 4/ /sub 5/Al/sub 0/ /sub 5/. The EDTU was designed for the upgrade cycle. It is a compact finned tube arrangement enclosed in a pressure vessel. This design incorporates high heat transfer and low thermal mass in a system which maximizes the coefficient of performance (COP). It will be constructed in Phase II. Continuation of this effort is recommended.

• Research Organization: Southern California Gas Co., Los Angeles (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76CH00016
• OSTI ID: 6732304
• Report Number(s): BNL-51539; ON: DE83002463
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320303 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Industrial & Agricultural Processes-- Equipment & Processes
42 ENGINEERING
420200* -- Engineering-- Facilities
Equipment
& Techniques
CHEMICAL HEAT PUMPS
COEFFICIENT OF PERFORMANCE
CONTROL EQUIPMENT
DESIGN
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ECONOMICS
ENERGY STORAGE
EQUIPMENT
HEAT EXCHANGERS
HEAT PUMPS
HEAT STORAGE
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
LANTHANUM COMPOUNDS
LANTHANUM HYDRIDES
MARKET
MEDIUM TEMPERATURE
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
STORAGE