Design optimization and sensitivity analysis of the radiation mini-channel metal hydride reactor

Di Wang, Yuqi Wang, Zhuonan Huang, Fusheng Yang, Zhen Wu, Lan Zheng, Le Wu and Zaoxiao Zhang

Energy, 2019, vol. 173, issue C, 443-456

Abstract: The hydrogenation process usually accompanies with strong thermal effect, which may lead to the poor hydriding performance if the reaction heat cannot be removed promptly. The design and optimization of metal hydride reactor can significantly advance heat & mass transfer and H2 storage efficiency. A novel radiation mini-channel reactor (RMCR) was proposed to improve the thermal efficiency, and a radiation mini-channel reactor with jacket (RMCR-J) was developed to eliminate the unfavorable heat transfer regions inside RMCR. The 7 reactors were extensively investigated and compared by 3D COMSOL models, revealing that radiation tube behaved the best reaction performance. The structural parameters of RMCR & RMCR-J were optimized as spread branch number of 3, main tube radius of 2 mm, branch tube radius of 2 mm, axial pitch of 5 mm, mounting distance of 8.5 mm and tilt angle of 0°. Moreover, the operation conditions were simulated and the optimal performance could be achieved at H2 pressure of 1 MPa and initial fluid temperature of 293 K. The sensitivity analysis results indicated that axial pitch and mounting distance was the most sensitive structure factor for RMCR and RMCR-J, respectively. In addition, RMCR-J was confirmed to present a superior performance than RMCR.

Keywords: Metal hydride reactor; Heat exchange jacket; Heat transfer; Mass transfer; Radiation tube; Sensitivity analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:173:y:2019:i:c:p:443-456

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2019.02.033

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