Development of a Sievert apparatus for characterization of high pressure hydrogen sorption materials

A volumetric gas absorption (Sievert) apparatus has been developed to measure hydrogen absorption and desorption at pressures up to 700 bar and temperatures between 240 K and 320 K. The apparatus is designed to reduce uncertainty for high pressure measurements while maintaining proper temperature control in the sample. Pressure-composition isotherms (PCI) and kinetics measurements of a well-studied material, LaNi5 have been obtained for validation of the apparatus. Measurements of both absorption and desorption PCI curves as well as full absorption kinetics data have been obtained for TiCrMn to examine the performance at high pressures, as well as to examine the thermodynamic hysteresis effect in TiCrMn for applications in metal hydride system design. Due to this hysteresis, the thermodynamics of the absorption reaction differ significantly from those of the desorption reaction, which must be accounted for when considering thermal design of a metal hydride reactor and the suitability of the metal hydride for energy storage applications.