Transient three-dimensional simulation of a metal hydride hydrogen storage tank interconnected to a PEM fuel cell by heat pipes

PEMFC heat generation was utilized to desorb hydrogen from a LaNi5 fi lled MH– Hydrogen Storage tank. Heat pipes were used to transfer heat from the FC to the MH- tank. The study was conducted using CFD simulation. Results showed that the increase of initial pressure of the MH tank and the cooling temperature of 303 K led to a rise in the hydrogen adsorption performance.After 4000 s in the desorption stage, 5.39 g of hydrogen was purged from the hydride tank. Additionally, results demonstrated that a total hydrogen discharge rate of 0.304 slpm was achieved only at the expense of 7.36 W of the total 23.43 W generated heat in the fuel cell. Furthermore, the hydrogen desorption fl ow rate gained 45% for the presented geometry compared to a similar system. Moreover, a very good agreement was found between the present work simulation results and the literature data.