Searching out the hydrogen absorption/desorption limiting reaction factors: Strategies allowing to increase kinetics

• A macro scale thermodynamic model that simulates the response of a FeTi-X hydride tank is performed, and validated experimentally.
• A sensibility study to identify the most influent input variables that can changes very largely the reaction rate.

Hydrogen gas has become one of the most promising energy carriers. Main breakthrough concerns hydrogen solid storage, specially based on intermetallic material use. Regarding the raw material abundance and cost, the AB type alloy FeTi is an auspicious candidate to store hydrogen. Its absorption/desorption kinetics is a basic hindrance to common use, compared with more usual hydrides.First, discussions based on literature help us identifying the successive steps leading to metal hydriding, and allow to introduce the physical parameters which drive or limit the reaction. This analysis leads us to suggest strategies in order to increase absorption/desorption kinetics.Attention is then paid to a thermofluidodynamic model, allowing to describe a macroscopic solid storage reactor. Thus, we can achieve a simulation which describes the overall reaction inside the hydrogen reactor and, by varying the sub-mentioned parameters (thermal conductivity, the powder granularity, environment heat exchange…), we attempt to hierarchy the reaction limiting factors. These simulations are correlated to absorption/desorption experiments for which pressure, temperature and hydrogen flow are recorded.