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Metal hydride hydrogen storage for LT PEM fuel cell powered vehicles

The use of Metal Hydride (MH) materials for hydrogen storage is a very promising technology due to the fact that it can provide efficient hydrogen supply for various applications, such as Low-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells (LT PEMFCs), when system weight is not a major and critical issue. The use of MH as a hydrogen storage medium is characterised by compactness, safety, simplicity and flexibility. Air cooled/heated MH hydrogen storage unit has been developed for LT-PEMFC power module on the basis of 500 W fuel stack from Horizon and 940 Wh Li-Ion battery pack (Figure 1). The module is to be integrated into a three wheeler (Figure 2) as a replacement for PbA batteries. The MH unit consists of 6 Aluminium MH containers comprising of AB2 type alloy with an equilibrium H2 pressure around 10 bar at ambient temperature. The total hydrogen capacity of the MH unit is 520 SL. Warm air exhaust from the fuel cell stack is directed towards the MH unit equipped with aluminium fins to intensify heat transfer. The Fuel Cell stack has been tested with programmable load at 30 A (~500 W) until unit controller alarm went off (low hydrogen flow rate). The average fuel cell hydrogen consumption at 30 A is 6.2 SL/min. At the maximum output power (500 W) the MH unit can supply enough H2 to the stack to operate for 70 minutes. Liquid cooled/heated MH hydrogen storage containers based on AB2 - type hydrogen storage alloys have been developed and, in combination with compressed gas cylinders, (''distributed hybrid'' hydrogen storage [1]) used for hydrogen storage and supply to PEM fuel cell - battery hybrid powered golf cart [2] and fuel cell forklift. Performances of the hydrogen storage tanks were tested off-board (test bench) and on-board (for the golf cart). The tests showed that the combination of MH and CGH2 (90-150 bar) storage solution can increase hydrogen storage capacity of the system in two and more times, as well as to provide short charge (10 - 15 minutes) and H2 output flow rate sufficient for the operation of fuel cell power module. References [1] M. Lototskyy, I. Tolj, M.W. Davids, et al. Patent application ZA2013/09728. [2] I.Tolj, M.V. Lototskyy, M.W. Davids, et al. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 38 (2013) 10630-9

LT PEM fuel cells; vehicles; MH hydrogen storage

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