Parametric investigations on compressor-driven metal hydride based cooling system

In this article, the development of a compressor-driven metal hydride based cooling system (CDMHCS) employing two identical metal hydride reactors each embedded with 60 cooling tubes, filled with 2.75 kg of LmNi4.91Sn0.15 hydride alloy for quasi-continuous cold generation is presented. Performances of the CDMHCS in terms Coefficient of Performance (COP) and Specific Cooling Power (SCP) along with the amount of hydrogen (H2) transferred in each cycle have been investigated at different refrigeration and sink temperatures, cold fluid flow rates and cycle times. The maximum COP and SCP of 2.2 and 53.5 W/kg respectively were observed for a cycle time of 8 min at cold fluid flow rate of 8 lpm, refrigeration and sink temperatures of 20 °C and 25 °C respectively. It was observed that COP and SCP of the system improved significantly with increase in refrigeration temperature; however, they decreased with increase in sink temperature.