Hydrogen storage by adsorption on activated carbon: investigation of the thermal effects during the charging process

Guillaume Hermosilla-Lara (1, 2) , Gelareh Momen (1) , Philippe Marty (2) , Bernard Le Neindre (2) , Khaled Hassouni (2)

1 LEGI - Laboratoire des Écoulements Géophysiques et Industriels [Grenoble]
2 LIMHP - Laboratoire d'Ingénierie des Matériaux et des Hautes Pressions

This paper presents an investigation of the thermal effects during high-pressure charging of a packed bed hydrogen storage tank. The studied column is packed with activated IRH3 carbon, which has an average surface area of 2600m^2/g and is fed with hydrogen or helium from an external high-pressure source. The temperature at six locations in the storage tank and the pressure value at the bottom of the tank are recorded during the charging stage. Several experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of the initial flow rate on the temperature field in the reservoir and on the duration of the charging process. A study of the respective contribution of adsorption and mechanical dissipation effects to the thermal phenomena is done in the case of hydrogen. Experimental results are compared to those obtained with the commercial code Fluent. A fair agreement is found when comparing typical pressure and temperature evolutions during the tank filling.

Mots clés: Adsorption; Hydrogen storage; Thermal effects; Numerical simulation

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]

Guillaume Hermosilla-Lara, Gelareh Momen, Philippe Marty, Bernard Le Neindre, Khaled Hassouni. Hydrogen storage by adsorption on activated carbon: investigation of the thermal effects during the charging process. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2006, ⟨10.1016/j.ijhydene.2006.10.048⟩. ⟨hal-00265722⟩