Performance analysis of sodium alanate hydride reactor with different nanofluids

The thermal management of the hydride based hydrogen storage reactor is the key factor to realize the complete storing potential of hydrides. In this regards a hydride reactor filled with sodium alanate in multiple tubes is numerically analyzed for absorption process. Based on various governing equations, a mathematical model of hydride reactor is developed and validated with the help of ANSYS Fluent. The hydride reactor uses mainly water or oil for heat exchange during hydrogen sorption. In the present study conventional heat transfer fluid (HTF) is replaced with the nanofluid since it has a greater heat exchange properties. The CuO/HTF, Al2O3/HTF and MgO/HTF nanofluids are selected based on previous studies and results of numerical experiment are recorded. The outcomes are attained for various parameters such as material and concentration of nanoparticles, supply pressure of hydrogen and inlet temperature of heat exchange fluid. The CuO/HTF nanofluid with concentration of 5 vol% exhibited better rate of absorption in comparison with other vol% concentrations and other selected nanofluids. It shows improvement in hydrogen absorption time up to 14% under selected conditions. Additionally, it is observed that CuO/ HTF nanofluid with 5 vol% concentration is thermodynamically superior to other selected nanofluids; as a result it enhances the rate of the heat exchange up to 10% for hydride reactor. It is realized that the performance of CuO/HTF nanofluid with 5 vol% concentration is superior among picked nanofluids. Therefore for the hydride reactor the use the nanofluid is advantageous. (c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The thermal management of hydride-based hydrogen storage reactor was studied using numerical analysis and mathematical modeling. The study found that CuO/HTF nanofluid with a concentration of 5% exhibited the best absorption rate and improved heat exchange properties in the hydride reactor.