Pressurised-cell test stand with oscillating heating for investigation heat transfer phenomena in metal hydride beds

The system and the developed methodology have been tested by measuring the effective thermal conductivity of the powdered LaNi5 bed. Investigations have been performed under inert gas, with pressure ranging from medium vacuum conditions up to about 0.45 MPa of nitrogen and helium. In the paper we present obtained results and compare them against the results from similar investigations performed in open cell apparatus under atmospheric gas conditions. Both the very good accuracy and the effectiveness of the developed procedure was demonstrated.