*1*1*2Measurement Apparatus of an Expansion and a Contraction ofMetal Hydride Bed
Masahiro MATSUSHITA*3 , Masanori MONDE and Yuichi MITSUTAKE*3Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University
1 Honjo, Saga, 840-8502 JapanFor clarification of the relation between void fraction and effective thermal conductivity of metal
hydride, it is important to measure an expansion and a contraction ratio directly. From this viewpoint,
we have constructed visualization experimental apparatus to measure change in the volume of themetal hydride packed bed. In present paper, our first apparatus was evaluated. The results of theevaluations show that the present apparatus has capability of the visualization measurement in apressure range from 5 Pa to 1.1 MPa. The measuring error of hydrogen storage capacity will bewithin ±1% of the maximum hydrogen absorption rate.
Key Words : Hydrogen, Metal hydride, Energy storage

1.

(4)

100℃

*1

*2
E-mail: matusita@ioes.saga-u.ac.jp

10840-8502

LaNi5(5)σ2.
PP1[Pa]

P2[Pa]

riro

1800cm3T1[℃]

T2[℃]

T3MH[℃]

T4[℃]

T5[℃]

T6

[℃]
Test section

Vent

Pressure control valve

Circulation pump

P2 T3
T21206D

Cool water tank

Secondarytank
P1ReturnT1
Vacuumpump

HydrogencylinderHot water tankσ=

Metal hydride(Fig.1 Schematic of experimental apparatus.

Hydrogen inlet

Thermocouple
Acrylic tank

(P × ro2 + ri 2ro2 − ri 2))

(1)

rori

60MPa

8.0MPaWater inlet

1.0MPa1.0MPaCamera32mm

Water outlet

150mm

Stainless-steel flange
Polycarbonate flange

Metal hydride
Polycarbonate pipe
Thickness 6mm

CameraGasketCameraFig.2 Appearance of experimental apparatus.

77mm

Screw nutClincher

Fig.3 Pressure tight case.

63mm

LaNi55Pa

φ32mm

1.0MPa1.1MPaThickness
1.4mm

Fig.4

Metal hydride case.
3 20 80℃

5P1
KYOWA PG-50KU

P2NS100A
T130℃
70℃

70℃

T2

T3

T4

T5,T6
YOKOGAWA WE500
PCVictor
GZ-HD620

3 30.1℃
0.1μV±0.02℃

3.
3 15Pa1.0MPa5Pa
1.1MPa1%

1.1MPa±0.01MPa

1.0MPa0.010

Temperature [degree]

1.47MPa

Fluctuating range [MPa]1.37MPaT67060T3(MH)

5040306101.0MPa

80

0.2%

0.005

0.000-0.005

T2(test section)
T4200-0.010
3060Time [minutes]

Fig.5 Temperature of test section.

90

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

Average pressure [MPa]Fig.6 Error of pressure at the secondary tank.

(a)52% (b)47% (c)39%

0.0020Fluctuating range [MPa]0.17mm/pixel
0.00100.50.0000

4.
-0.0010-0.0020
0.00.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

5Pa

1.0

Average pressure [MPa]1.0MPa1.1MPaFig.7 Error of pressure at the test section.

0℃80℃

LaNi5±0.002MPa

100g

1.4g

±1.0%

3%

LaNi5100g

1.4g

±1.0%
3 4100g

LaNi5(a)(b)(c)

101000.0775mm/pixel(a)52%(b)47%(c)39%
Fig.9 Photographs in three types of void fraction.

(1) Suzuki, M., Ichiba, H., Hasegawa, I. and Oshima, T.,
Void Fraction of Multi-Component RandomlyPacked Beds with Size Sistributions, Kagaku Kogaku
Ronbunshu, Vol.11, No.4 (1985), pp. 438-443.
(2) Suzuki, M., Sakata, T., Nakamura, S., Hirota, M.
and Oshima, T., Effect of Size Distribution onPressure Drop in Particle Packed bed, Kagaku
Kogaku Ronbunshu, Vol.17, No.2 (1991), pp.
417-422.
(3) Matsubara, H., Tajiri, K., Asahina, T. and Kosaka,M., Thermal Conductivity of Powers (III) Discussion
for the Estimation, Energy and Resources, Vol. 8,
No.6 (1987), pp. 554- 559.
(4) Monde, M. and Mitsutake, Y., Measurement ofThermal Diffusivity and Conductivity for
Metal-hydrogen, Transactions of the Japan Societyof Mechanical Engineers, Series B, Vol.70, No.700(2004), pp. 3264-3270.
(5) Mitsutake, Y., Monde, M., Shigetaka, K.,
Tsunokake, S. and Fuura, T., Enhancement of Heat
Transfer in Hydrogen Storage Tank with Hydrogen
Absorbing Alloy, Transactions of the Japan Societyof Mechanical Engineers, Series B, Vol.72, No.718(2006), pp. 1396-1403.