Study on the Characteristics of Hydrogen Storage according to the Structure of Storage Tank using Metal Hydride

In order to utilize hydrogen energy in a large-scale in the future, development of effective hydrogen storage method is essentially required as well as that of efficient hydrogen production method. The hydrogen storage method using metal hydrides has been holding the spotlight as a safer and higher-density hydrogen storage method than conventional hydrogen storage methods such as liquid hydrogen or compressed hydrogen storage method. However when metals react with hydrogen to store hydrogen as metal hydrides, they undergo exothermic reactions, while metal hydrides evolve hydrogen by endothermic reaction. Therefore, hydrogen storage tank should have such structure that it can absorb or release reaction heat rapidly and efficiently. In this study, a review on the improvement of the heat release and absorption structure in the hydrogen storage tank was conducted, and as a result, a new type of hydrogen storage tank with the structure of vertical-type wall was designed and manufactured. Experimental results showed that this new type of tank could be used as an efficient hydrogen storage tank because its structure is simpler and manufacture is easier than cup-type hydrogen storage tank with the structure of packed horizontal cup.