Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Renewable Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Numerical simulation of metal hydride based thermal energy storage

system for concentrating solar power plants
Satya Sekhar Bhogilla
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Thermo-chemical based thermal energy storage systems are receiving much attention due to their higher
Received 7 August 2020 energy density. Metal hydride based thermal energy storage (MHTES) system can store heat efficiently
Received in revised form for the concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. MHTES systems are energy-efficient, compact, environ-
15 January 2021
mentally friendly and available over a wide operating temperature range. In this type of system, two
Accepted 22 March 2021
reactors filled with different alloys are used to store the excess heat from the CSP plant. As the operation
Available online 26 March 2021
of the MHTES system is unsteady, to simulate its process efficiently, it is essential to study its transient
heat and hydrogen transfer characteristics. A 2-D numerical model is solved for estimating the perfor-
Keywords:
Thermal energy storage
mance of the MHTES system. The fully implicit finite volume method (FVM) is used to solve the
Metal hydrides mathematical equations of the MHTES system. The alloy pair chosen for the MHTES system is Mg2Ni/
Solar energy TiFeMn. The numerical model is validated against the data reported in the literature. The thermal energy
storage coefficient is defined as the ratio of the total useful energy output of the MHTES system to total
energy supplied to the MHTES system for the proposed system. For the given operating conditions of
high temperatures (TH1 ¼ 623 K, TH2 ¼ 573 K, and low temperatures (TL1 ¼ 303 K, TL2 ¼ 293 K), the
achieved thermal energy storage coefficient is 0.71.
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction day. Solar photovoltaic systems produce electricity only during

World population and pollution are increasing year by year. The
energy consumption per capita is also increasing every year. On the
other hand, the number of polluted cities is rising, and its effect on
health is also a significant concern. Most of the energy demand is
supplied by non-renewable energy sources like coal, gas, petro-
leum. The conversion of non-renewable energy sources into elec-
tricity will generate lots of pollution. Only a few countries have
energy sources like coal, gas, petroleum, and other countries
heavily dependent on these countries. It is an overwhelmingly
accepted fact that every country wants to be self-sustained in every
aspect. So every country has planned to tap energy from renewable
energy resources. India is going to generate about 100 GW of solar
power by 2022. Most of the governments are giving subsidies and
providing financial loans for industries. Solar power and wind po-
wer installation capacities are increasing every year. Nonetheless,
solar and wind energy is intermittent in nature. Solar energy is
available only in the daytime and also fluctuates during an overcast
E-mail address: satya.bhogilla@iitjammu.ac.in.
sunshine hours, whereas solar thermal power plants can generate
power throughout the day by storing thermal energy in sunshine
hours [1e7]. The cost of storing thermal energy is cheaper than
electric energy storage. In India and other developing countries, the
growing population and the ever-increasing demand for energy
make the energy conservation essential. Since most of the devel-
oping countries are tropical countries, they have abundant solar
energy.
Metal hydrides are used as the operational materials for several
thermally driven absorption energy systems. Recently, metal hy-
dride based energy systems has received much research attention
because of their high energy density, compactness, low-grade
waste heat utilization, noise-free and vibration-less operation and
other environmental benefits. The hydrogen absorption in metal
hydride is exothermic, and the desorption process is endothermic.
Many engineering systems can be developed by using these
exothermic and endothermic heat exchanges, such as hydrogen
compressor, refrigerator, heat transformer, and thermal energy
storage. The absorption and desorption rate in the reaction bed
strongly affects the system’s performance, which is essentially
determined by the coupled heat and hydrogen transfer

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.109
0960-1481/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S.S. Bhogilla
Nomenclature
Ca Absorption reaction constant (s1)
Cd Desorption reaction constant (s1)
Cp Specific heat (J/kg K)
Ea Absorption activation energy (J/mol H2)
Ed Desorption activation energy (J/mol H2)
n number of H2mole
k Thermal conductivity (W/mK)
K Permeability, m2
m Hydrogen mass absorbed (kg/m3s)
M Molecular weight (kg/mol)
P Pressure (bar)
r Radial space coordinate (m)
R Universal gas constant (J/molK)
t Time (s)
T Temperature (K)
U Overall heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 K)
V Velocity of gas (m/s)
X Concentration
z Axial space coordinate (m)
phenomena.
A detailed experimental study of the metal hydride system in
renewable power generation based microgrid was conducted by
Kumar et al. [8]. The performance studies of both electrolyzer and
fuel cells were given, which helps to study the system’s perfor-
mance. The results showed that the effect of the flow rate of heating
water and input temperature were not affecting the hydrogen
supply rate for the 1 kW fuel cell operations. The NaMgH2F/
TiCr1.6Mn0.2 hydride pair was studied by D’Entremont et al. [9] to
test the feasibility of thermal energy storage (TES) system and
discussed the integration of solar-driven power plant and TES
system. Sheppard et al. [10] assessed the potential of using large-
scale caverns hydrogen storage and a hydrogen compressor for
sodium and magnesium-based alloys. They concluded that the
systems based on NaH or Mg2FeH6 have the nearest potential to
reach the cost targets for the TES system. Bao [11] evaluated the
effect of heat transfer enhancement by employing the compacted
metal hydride power and metal fins. Compact metal hydride
technique is recommended compared to expensive metal fins in
the metal hydride based heat storage applications. Bhouri and
Burger [12] developed a 2-D numerical model to predict a TES
system’s thermal efficiency based on the combination of Mg(OH)2
and MgH2 hydride materials.
Feng et al. [13] proposed a multi-level arrangement to intensify
the dehydriding process of the TES system using MgH2/LaNi5 pair. It
was found that the multi-level arrangement enhances the overall
discharging performance effectively by mitigating the uneven re-
action along the direction of fluid flow. Feng et al. [14] proposed a
new tapered bed structure to improve the efficiency of discharging
effectively from 76 to 90%, and gravimetric exergy-output rate from
65 to 120 W/kg. Mellouli et al. [15] presented a numerical model to
simulate 3d novel configuration of MH-PCM system. For each of
these cases, NaNo3 is chosen for a heat storage medium, and Mg2Ni
alloy is selected as a sorption material. Werner and Groll [16]
developed a laboratory model of a two-stage heat transformer
system using Mm-Ni based alloys.
Suda et al. [17] developed a double-stage metal hydride heat
upgadation with capacities 7.72 kW and 77 kW. The metal hydrides
employed in this heat pump were: LaNi4.28Al0.23 as a low-pressure
hydride, MmNi4.57Al0.46Fe0.05 as intermediate pressure hydride and
1014
Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020
Greek letters
ε Porosity
m Dynamic viscosity (kg/ms)
n Kinematic viscosity (m2/s)
r Density (kg/m3)
fo Plateau flatness factor
DH Enthalpy of formation (J/molH2)
DS Entropy of formation (J/molH2K)
f Hysteresis factor
Subscripts
b bed
e Effective
eq Equilibrium
f Cooling fluid
g Gas
i Inner, initial
m Maximum
o Outer, final
s Solid, supply
ss Saturated
MmNi3.98Fe1.04 as a high-pressure hydride. Isselhorst and Groll [18]
developed a prototype heat transformer with a capacity of about
8 kW. They showed that upgrading of thermal energy from 130-
140  C to 200  C could be possible with a 40  C heat rejection
temperature. Willers and Groll [19] developed a double-stage heat
upgadation system. The operating temperatures were 200  C for
the output heat, 135  C for the heat supply and 30  C for the waste
heat. Ni and Liu [20] conducted experiments on metal hydride heat
pump at different operating temperatures. The achieved lowest
temperatures at different operating temperatures were 6.5, 2.5, and
1.9  C, respectively. Gopal and Murthy [21] used a 1-D model to
investigate the metal hydride heat pump using ZrCrFel.4/LaNi5 hy-
dride pair. Most of the researchers assumed that the heat transfer
fluid temperature is constant along the axial direction. However, in
practice, the heat transfer fluid temperature varies along the axial
direction due to the limited heat transfer fluid flow rate. Hence, the
variable wall temperature convective boundary condition is
considered in the present study. In this paper, a thermal model for
MHTES system using Mg2Ni/TiFeMn pair is presented. The transient
heat and mass transfer characteristics of the coupled reactors are
reported. The thermal energy storage coefficient is introduced to
MHTES system.
2. Operating principle
In parabolic trough solar power plant, the mirrors focus the
sunlight more than 60 to 80 times in the line of focus along which a
metal absorber pipe runs. The pipe with a selective coating is
enclosed in an air expulsion vacuum glass tube to minimize emis-
sion and heat loses. Natural synthetic oil, which is a heat transfer
fluid (HTF), is passed through the tubes and gets heated up to
400  C. The HTF barters heat to the water and generates steam,
which is used to drive the turbine and an electrical generator.
Additional thermal energy is stored in the storage system before
the steam is condensed back into the water. The stored thermal
energy is used in hours of solar field output crisis, and thus elimi-
nating the firing of fossil fuel. A CSP plant although starts late, it
produces power for longer hours, particularly during summer, due
to the presence of TES. The power generation extends beyond
sunset until midnight due to higher level of TES charging during
S.S. Bhogilla Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020

sunshine hours. Fig. 1 shows the concept of the MHTES system for equilibrium conditions is shown in Fig. 3 at the design high and low
the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant. When enough direct temperatures. The processes “ab” and “cd” are heat and mass
solar heat is available, the power plant is driven directly by solar transfer process and the processes “bc” and “da” are sensible
heat and the available surplus solar power is stored in the TES. The cooling & heating process. The thermos-physical properties of alloy
storage system stores heat at high temperature in the high- pair and other parameters used in the simulation are shown in
temperature reactor (HTR) in Fig. 1. During the daytime, the high- Table 1. Table 2 shows the thermo-physical properties of the SS
temperature Therminol oil (250e400  C) from the solar field is 316L and the HTF. The porosity of both reactors HTR & LTR is
supplied to the HTR. The HTR desorbs hydrogen, and the same will considered as 0.5.
be absorbed in the low-temperature reactor (LTR). The circulation
water will absorb the exothermic reaction heat. During the night 3. Mathematical model
time, the LTR will desorb the hydrogen by taking endothermic re-
action heat from the medium temperature water (40  C). The HTR The following assumptions are made in the modeling of the
will absorb the desorbed hydrogen. The exothermic heat released MHTES system [22,23].
from the HTR will be supplied to the heat exchanger.
The schematic of the coupled reactors considered is shown in 1. Initially, during process ab, both the reactors are in equilibrium.
Fig. 2. It consists of two reaction beds HTR (reactor A) and LTR 2. Thermo-physical properties of alloys are not dependent on
(reactor B), filled with Mg2Ni/TiFeMn hydride alloys. Hydrogen is concentration, temperature, and pressure.
frequently exchanged between these reactors. For validate the 3. The reactors HTR and LTR are considered as well insulated.
numerical results, the metal hydride bed dimensions are taken 4. Heat transfer in the reactor is 2D convection and conduction.
from Ni and Liu [20]. The reactor length is 475.0 mm, and the outer 5. The internal volume of the connecting tube is negligible (refer
diameter of the reactor is 36 mm. The inner tube having an outer Fig. 1).
diameter of 12 mm serves as a hydrogen filter. It is used to keep the 6. Hydrogen is considered as ideal gas.
hydride particle in the reaction bed during the desorption process.
The space between the two concentric tubes, i.e., the reactor tube The variables in the following equations are explained in
and the filter section, was filled by metal hydride. The HTF flows Refs. [23,24]. The Peq depends on the concentration and tempera-
between the HTF jacket and the outer part of the reactor tube. ture of hydride, which is estimated from the van’t Hoff equation
Reactor HTR releases hydrogen by absorbing endothermic reaction [16].
heat at heat source temperature from the CSP plant. The same " " !# #
hydrogen absorbed by another reaction bed LTR at low tempera- DH DS X 1 b
ture. After that, reactor LTR releases hydrogen by taking endo- Peq ¼ exp  þ ð4 ± 4o Þtan p  ±
Ru T Ru Xf 2 2
thermic reaction heat at low temperature. Desorbed hydrogen
flows to reactor HTR, and gets absorbed by rejecting heat at high (1)
temperature. Between these two processes, there are changeover Gas temperature and pressure in the combined space (once the
periods, where the reactor HTR is cooled down from temperature valve is opened) is calculated from the following expressions:
Th2 to Th1and reactor B is heated up from temperature Tl1 to Tl2, and
vice versa. Pg;A VA þ Pg;B VB n T þ nB TB
Pg; P ¼ Tg; P ¼ A A (2)
The van’t Hoff for an MHTES system is shown in Fig. 3. The metal VA þ VB nA þ nB
hydride pair Mg2Ni/TiFeMn is selected based on various
Since the hydrogen is considered as an ideal gas, reactor

Fig. 1. Concept of the MHTES system.

1015
S.S. Bhogilla Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of coupled reactors.

Table 2
The thermo physical properties of SS 316L and HTF [22].

Parameter SS 316L Therminol VP1 Water

Specific heat capacity 500 J/kg-K 2454 J/kg-K 4180 J/kg-K

Density 7990 kg/m3 761 kg/m3 1000 kg/m3
Dynamic viscosity 1500W/m2K 0.177 mPa s 0.89 mPa s
Thermal conductivity 16.2 W/mK 0.086 W/mK 0.59 W/mK

 
ng;t  na Tg;a þ nd Tg;d
Tg;tþdt ¼ (6)
ng;t  na þ nd

where ng,t, nd and na are the number of hydrogen moles in the

connecting pipe (once the valve is opened), the number of
hydrogen moles released/absorbed from/to the HTR/LTR during
time t ¼ dt.
Fig. 3. Van’t Hoff plot for a MHTES system.

3.1. Process ab (first half cycle)

hydrogen moles, temperature, and gas pressure in the combined
As mentioned in Section 2, the working principle has two
space are found using the below equations [23,24].
hydrogen transfer processes and two sensible heating and cooling
PA VA P V processes. During the processes ab and cd, the heat and hydrogen
nA ¼ n ¼ B B (3) exchange rates, and heat exchange rates during the two sensible
Ru TA B Ru TB
heating/cooling processes in the HTR and LTR are predicted by
solving the below equations. During the first half cycle, the mass
ng;tþdt ¼ ng;t þ nd  na (4) transfer taken from HTR at temperature Th1 to the LTR at temper-
ature Tl1. The numerical modeling of process ab is explained below.
ng;tþdt Ru Tg;tþdt
Pg;tþdt ¼ (5)
VA þ VB
3.1.1. HTR (desorption)
Mass flux is calculated from the following equation [23,24].

Table 1
The thermo physical properties of metal hydrides [13,22].

Mg2Ni TiFeMn

Specific heat capacity (Cp) 697 J/kg-K 560 J/kg-K

Density of solid (rs) 3200 kg/m3 2590 kg/m3
Heat transfer coefficient (h) 1500W/m2K 1500W/m2K
Thermal conductivity (k) 1.2 W/mK 1.2 W/mK
Enthalpy(DH) 64500J/mol.H2 21170J/mol.H2
Entropy (DS) 122.3 J/mol. H2 K1 103.2 J/mol. H2 K1
Activation energy (E) 52270 J/mol1 H2 21700 J/mol1 H2
Reaction rate constant(C) Cd ¼ 5452 s1, Ca ¼ 174 s1 Cd ¼ 15.57 s1,Ca ¼ 65 s1

1016
S.S. Bhogilla Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020

  !  
Ed Peq; A  Pg; tþdt vT
mA ¼ Cd exp rm; A (7) k ðz; ro ; tÞ ¼ U Tz;ro ;t  Tf (17)
Ru TA Peq; A vr
The temperature variation in the axial direction is assumed to be
rm,A denotes the hydride density, and Pg indicates the hydrogen negligible. But HTF temperature changes along the wall of the re-
pressure in the combined gas space in Eq. (5). action bed in the actual case. Hence, in this analysis, the HTF
The reaction bed temperature is calculated by using the below temperature updated along the length of the reaction bed [24].
energy equation [24]. " !#
h i
    UA
  vT 1 v rke vTg v ke vTg   vT   vT Tfo ¼ Tfi þ Tz;ro ;t  Tfi 1  exp  : (18)
rCp ¼
e vt r vr
þ  rCpg Vgr  rCpg Vgz mf Cpf
vr vz vz vr vz
 
DH  
m T Cpg Cps
Mg
(8) 3.1.3. Reactor LTR (absorption)
The absorption hydrogen mass flux is calculated from the below
where, equation [23,24].
         
Ea Pg;tþdt  
rCp e
¼ εrCp g þ ð1  εÞrCp s (9) mB ¼ Ca exp ln rss  rm;B (19)
Ru TB Peq;B

k ¼ εkg þ ð1  εÞks (10) The following equation is used to calculate the reactor LTR
temperature [23,24].
and k is effective thermal conductivity.
The mass balance is calculated as [24].   vT   !
r Cp
e vt
þ r Cp g u :VT ¼
 
v rg  !  DH   (20)
ε þ V rg ug ¼ mA (11) kV2 T þ mB  T Cpg  Cps :
vt Mg
rg is calculated using the ideal gas equation. Darcy’s law is
The mass balance of LTR is calculated as [23,24].
employed to calculate the gas velocity [24].
 
v rg  ! 
! K
u g ¼  VPg (12) ε þ V rg ug ¼ mB (21)
mg vt
The initial conditions of the LTR are expressed as
Hydrogen gas pressures inside the HTR and LTR are estimated by
using Eq. (13). rm;B ðz; rÞ ¼ ri ; Tm;B ðz; rÞ ¼ Tg;B ðz; rÞ ¼ TH ; XB ðz; rÞ ¼ Xmin
      (22)
εMg vPg εMg Pg v 1
þ 
Ru T vt Ru vt T and other parameters are similar to HTR.
    (13)
K v vPg K v vPg
r  ¼ mA : 3.2. Process bc and da (sensible cooling & heating)
ng r vr vr ng vz vz

where, Mg denotes the hydrogen molecular weight, K denotes During sensible cooling and heating processes between reaction
Darcy’s law coefficient. bed and HTF, only heat exchange takes place. The temperature of
HTR and LTR are calculated from the following equation [24].

  vT   !
3.1.2. Initial and boundary conditions rCp e vt
þ rCp g u :VT ¼ le V2 T (23)
Initially, both the reactor’s HTR and LTR are in equilibrium with
hydrogen gas at their corresponding temperature limits. Concen-
tration and temperature of the reactor HTR are given by Ref. [24].
3.3. Process cd (second half cycle)
rm;A ðz; rÞ ¼ rss ; Tm;A ðz; rÞ ¼ Tg;A ðz; rÞ ¼ TM ; XA ðz; rÞ
During this second half cycle, the mass transfer occurs from LTR
¼ Xmax : (14)
to HTR at the corresponding operating conditions.
The right and left sides of the reactors are considered as adia-
batic [23]. 3.4. Thermal energy storage coefficient

vT vT The thermal energy storage coefficient is expressed as the ratio

ðz; r; tÞz¼0 ¼ 0 ; ðz; r; tÞz¼Z ¼ 0: (15)
vz vz of total useful energy output from the MHTES system to total en-
and the hydrogen supply side ergy supplied to the MHTES system.

Pg ðz; ri ; tÞ ¼ Pg : (16) Thermal , energy,storage,coefficient,

Total useful energy output
HTF flows in the outer section of the reactor tube, and therefore, ¼, (24)
Total energy suppied
at the top boundary, the convective boundary condition is applied
[24].
1017
S.S. Bhogilla
4. Numerical results and discussion
The specific technical targets for the CSP TES systems set by the
DOE are given below:
 The operating temperatures of TES more than 650  C
 The exergetic efficiency greater than 95%,
 The specific (installed) cost less than 15 $/kWhth, and
 The volumetric energy density of TES more than 25 kWhth/m3.
However, the currently available TES systems cannot meet all
the requirements [3]. The high-temperature metal hydride Mg2Ni is
selected based on the cost and operating temperature range.
TiFeMn is selected for the second alloy, which works as a hydrogen
compressor hydride or low-temperature hydride. The AB2-type
hydrides are cheap compared to AB5 hydrides due to the elimina-
tion of rare earth materials. The hydride pair selected for this study
is Mg2Ni/TiFeMn, which is one of the best hydride pair for MHTES
system [13,21] and the thermo-physical properties of both alloys
are well known. Due to the low thermal conductivity of metal hy-
dride powder, the bed thickness is an important geometric
parameter which affects the heat transfer rate [11]. Therefore, in-
ternal heat transfer enhancements have become more attractive
and can roughly be divided in two ways:
 Thermal conductivity enhancement by insertion of metal
matrices of high thermal conductivity, such as copper or
aluminum foam [25,26] or copper wire net structure [27].
 Integration of heat exchanger inside the bed, such as finned tube
heat exchanger [28,29], bundle of tubes [30], finned spiral heat
exchanger [31,32], spiral heat exchanger [33]. So much work was
carried out on the optimization of geometric parameters that
minimize the total mass of the hydrogen storage system
(maximize the hydrogen gravimetric capacity) [34].
In this section, results obtained from the numerical simulation
are presented. The MHTES system’s performance is estimated by
employing the variable wall temperature convection boundary
condition (Eq. (18)). Operating temperatures considered for this
analysis are high temperatures (TH1 ¼ 623 K, TH2 ¼ 573 K, and low
temperatures (TL1 ¼ 303 K, TL2 ¼ 293 K). The fully implicit FVM is
used to solve the governing equations. A grid independence study
for the MHTES system is carried out by taking different grid sizes on
the reaction bed (HTR and LTR) concentrations. It was noticed from
Fig. 4. Grid independence test.
1018
Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020
Fig. 4 that there is no major variation in the concentration curve for
a grid size greater than 31x 31. Hence, using the grid size of 31x 31,
all subsequent computations are performed.
The numerical model was already validated in Ref. [35]. How-
ever, for confirming the developed model, the numerical code was
used to simulate the similar reactor design used by Ni and Liu [20],
and the results were compared. The HTF velocity, amount of alloy
filled, and other properties used for the numerical model are taken
from Ref. [20]. It is observed from Fig. 5 that the predicted reaction
bed temperature profiles match closely with the experimental data
reported by Ni and Liu [20]. The same model was extended for the
numerical modeling of the MHTES system.
The concentration changes in HTR and LTR over a cycle is shown
in Fig. 6. The concentration ranges are fixed in such a way that the
reactors desorption pressure is always higher than the other reactor
absorption pressure with respect to operating temperatures. Based
on these conditions, the metal hydride concentration values
(0.2e0.9) are used in this analysis. It can be viewed from Fig. 6 that
the hydrogen transfer between the HTR and LTR takes approxi-
mately 1.5 h, whereas the hydrogen transfer between the LTR and
HTR takes about 42 min. It is because of the difference in reaction
kinetics between the LTR and HTR. Since there is no mass transfer
during the sensible heating/cooling processes, the time taken for bc
and da processes is 15 min. The total time taken for one complete
cycle (all four processes) is about 2 h 45 min.
The changes in the HTR and LTR temperatures of over a cycle are
shown in Figs. 7 and 8. It can be viewed that the HTR temperature
increases during the exothermic process and decreases during the
endothermic process. It is because of the high enthalpy of reaction
of the MgN2 hydride and reaction bed low thermal conductivity.
The reaction heat is not efficiently transferred to/from the cooling
fluid during the exothermic/endothermic process in the reactors. At
the starting of the reaction, the rate of mass transfer between the
HTR and LTR is very high and gradually decreased. Therefore, the
temperature of the HTR rises or falls once the process started, and
slowly temperature reaches the HTF temperature.
The variation of hydride gas pressures in the HTR and LTR is
shown in Fig. 9. In the beginning, both the HTR and LTR are in
thermal equilibrium with each other. After opening the valve be-
tween HTR and LTR, the mass transfer occurs between the reactors
due to the pressure difference. This process terminates when HTR
and LTR reach the pressure equilibrium, as shown in Fig. 8. During
the process bc, the HTR sensibly cooled down to 573 K while LTR
heats up to 313 K. Therefore, the HTR and LTR pressures will change
to 2 bar and 13 bar, respectively. Similarly, during the second half
Fig. 5. Validation of numerical model [20].
S.S. Bhogilla Renewable Energy 172 (2021) 1013e1020

Fig. 6. Variation of hydride concentrations over a cycle.

Fig. 9. Variation of reactor pressure over a cycle.

Fig. 7. Variation of HTR temperature over a cycle.

Fig. 10. Heat interaction over a cycle.

HTF for one complete cycle. The pattern of the heat exchange rate
and the average temperature range is similar. The reason is that the
heat transfer rate is proportional to the reactor and HTF tempera-
ture difference. The heat exchange is very high at the starting
period due to the high amount of hydrogen transfer between the
reactors. Later it gradually decreases due to the fall in the hydrogen
exchange rate. It can also be observed that the amount of heat
exchange from/to the HTR is very high compared to LTR. The
enthalpy of reaction of HTR is higher than LTR. As a result, the
amount of heat exchange also high from/to HTR compared to LTR.
For the given operating conditions of high temperatures
(TH1 ¼ 623 K, TH2 ¼ 573 K, and low temperatures (TL1 ¼ 303 K,
Fig. 8. Variation of LTR temperature over a cycle.
TL2 ¼ 293 K), the achieved thermal energy storage coefficient is
0.71.
cycle, mass transfer occurs between LTR and HTR. This reaction
ends when both HTR and LTR exchange the same amount of
5. Conclusions
hydrogen in process ab. In the fourth process “da”, the sensible
heating/cooling process takes place. The HTR and LTR pressure will
Developing an efficient energy storage system is a critical issue
reach to the initial conditions. The pressure variations inside the
of renewable energy systems like concentrating solar power plants
reactors are below 1.3 MPa.
and wind farms. In order to compete with the fossil fuel systems,
Fig. 10 shows the heat exchange between the reaction bed and
these systems must have the storage system to supply the power
1019
S.S. Bhogilla
continuously. Thermal energy storage systems based on sensible
and latent heat-based systems were widely studied in the litera-
ture. In this work, a numerical model of an MHTES system working
with the Mg2Ni/TiFeMn hydride pair is presented. The results
indicated that the proposed alloy pair (Mg2Ni/TiFeMn) could suit-
ably be incorporated in the concentrating solar power plant. Also,
results showed that there is a substantial possibility for efficiency
enhancement through heat transfer augmentation techniques. The
numerical model predicted the successful exchange of hydrogen
between the two alloys (Mg2Ni/TiFeMn). The pressure variations
inside the HTR and LTR are below 1.3 MPa. The achieved thermal
energy storage coefficient is 0.71. Overall, the results showed that
the proposed MHTES system using Mg2Ni/TiFeMn pair could store
the thermal energy and supply the same to the CSP plant.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Satya Sekhar Bhogilla: Conceptualization, Methodology,
Investigation, Writing e review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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