Electrochemical compressor driven metal hydride heat pump

• The concept of metal hydride heat pump driven by electrochemical compressor is introduced.
• A review of previous metal hydride heat pump performance and electrochemical compressor.
• Electrochemical compression efficiency, capacity and system COP were modeled.
• The modeled system potentially has better performance than existing systems.

In this study, a new metal hydride heat pump system driven by an electrochemical compressor was proposed. The system uses the electrochemical compressor to generate absorption heating and desorption cooling in two identical LaNi5 reactors operating at different pressure levels. A thermodynamic model was developed to predict the system performance in terms of various parameters. Modeling shows EC compression efficiency has a great impact on system performance. The system is suitable for cooling application less than 200 W where mechanical compressors are the most inefficient. The high compression efficiency of electrochemical compressor could potentially make the cooling system more competitive than existing metal hydride heat pump systems.