JPS6047516B2 - metal hydride equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a metal hydride device, and relates to a metal hydride device that can be used, for example, as a heat pump device or a hydrogen compressor.

It is known that certain metals and alloys exothermically absorb hydrogen to form metal hydrides, and that these metal hydrides reversibly and endothermically release hydrogen. ”3
In general, sako eight first r]■■n is a function of temperature T, and as shown in FIG. 1, the higher the temperature, the higher the equilibrium decomposition pressure.

In recent years, various metal hydride devices such as heat pumps have been proposed by taking advantage of these characteristics of metal hydrides, but in most cases, metal hydrides with different equilibrium decomposition pressure characteristics are connected to each other in a hermetically sealed heat exchanger. Each heat exchanger fills a container, causes hydrogen to be released endothermically from the metal hydride in one heat exchanger, and leads this hydrogen to the other heat exchanger, where it is absorbed into the metal hydride in the other heat exchanger. The exothermic or endothermic heat generated by the metal hydride is output from each heat exchanger in a batch manner by repeating the process alternately.

Therefore, in such a device, a complicated heating medium circuit and a control mechanism therefor are required to alternately heat or cool each heat exchanger, and heat loss when switching the heating medium circuit cannot be ignored. For this purpose, the metal hydride is continuously transferred in a closed passage, and during this transfer it passes through a heat exchanger placed at a predetermined position.
A method of continuous operation without the need to switch the heat exchanger circuit has also been proposed, but when two heat exchange parts are connected via a metal hydride passage, the hydrogen pressure between the heat exchange parts Part of the hydrogen flows between the heat exchange sections due to the difference in pressure, and therefore it is difficult to cause the metal hydride to absorb and desorb hydrogen at a predetermined pressure level in each heat exchange section. There is also.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the present invention has been made to continuously transfer a metal hydride and exchange heat with a heating medium in the process of passing through at least two heat exchange sections having different temperatures. Therefore, in metal hydride equipment that essentially operates continuously, requiring a complicated heat medium circuit and its control mechanism, it is difficult to maintain a predetermined pressure by pressure-blocking the heat exchange parts. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a metal hydride device that can perform the following steps. The metal hydride device of the present invention includes a first sealed cylinder, a screw that rotates in a hydrogen atmosphere within the cylinder to transfer the metal hydride, and a screw that rotates in the cylinder in a hydrogen atmosphere to transfer the metal hydride. A first heat exchange section that exchanges heat with the metal hydride through a wall or screw wall, a hydrogen pipe communicating with this heat exchange section, a sealed second cylinder, and a hydrogen atmosphere in the cylinder. a screw that rotates to transfer the metal hydride; a second heat exchange section that exchanges heat with the metal hydride through the cylinder wall or the screw wall during the process of transferring the metal hydride; and a metal hydride transport member that receives the metal hydride from the discharge end of the first cylinder, transports it through a sealed space, and supplies it to the supply end of the second cylinder. This is a characteristic feature.

The present invention will be described below based on drawings showing examples.

As shown in FIG. 2, a screw 3 is rotated in a hydrogen atmosphere in a sealed first cylinder 1 to transfer metal hydride. This metal hydride is supplied into the cylinder from the supply port 4, and is supplied to the metal hydride transport member 6 from the discharge end 5 at the end of the cylinder. A heat medium flow passage 7 is provided at a predetermined position within the wall of the first cylinder 1 or within the screw 3, and, for example, a high temperature heat medium is circulated and exchanged heat with the metal hydride transferred within the cylinder. Using this high-temperature heating medium as a heating source, the metal hydride is heated to release hydrogen,
Alternatively, in order to store hydrogen while cooling the metal hydride using this high-temperature heat source as a heat absorbing source, the heat exchange section 8 is provided with a hydrogen pipe 9 that communicates with the inside of the cylinder. In the drawing, the screw is omitted except for a few main threads, but these threads rotate while contacting or close to the inner wall of the cylinder, thus transporting the metal hydride along the thread groove. Transfer in a spiral. In the illustrated embodiment, the metal hydride transport member 6 has a rotating shaft 11 supported in a transverse direction of the screw in a closed container 10, such as a spherical or cylindrical shape, which communicates with the discharge end of the first cylinder. The core 12 extends radially from the shaft and is attached so that its peripheral edge is in contact with the inner wall of the container or has a minute gap, and is configured to rotate together with the rotation shaft.

Therefore, the metal hydride discharged from the discharge end of the first cylinder is scooped up into the core in the closed container 6,
The rotation of the core feeds the feed end 13 of the second cylinder 2. Here, since the space 14 formed by the two cores facing the inner wall of the container is substantially blocked in terms of pressure, the first and second cylinders are also blocked in terms of pressure, and in this way, A predetermined pressure level is maintained within the first and second cylinders. Also in the second cylinder 2, the metal hydride supplied to the supply end 13 by the metal hydride transport member is transferred inside the cylinder by the screw 15, and circulated to the heat medium flow path 17 at the heat exchange section 16 at a predetermined position. It exchanges heat with the supplied heat medium and is discharged from the discharge end 18.

In the heat exchange section, the metal hydride is cooled by, for example, a low-temperature heating medium, and therefore, the heat exchange section is provided with a hydrogen pipe 19 that communicates with the inside of the cylinder. To explain an example of the operation,
The metal hydride supplied into the first cylinder from the supply port is first heated by a high-temperature heating medium in the heat exchange section 8 while being transferred through the first cylinder by the screw, and is heated to this temperature. Hydrogen is released at a high equilibrium decomposition pressure at The metal hydride is fed to the feed end of the second cylinder.This metal hydride is transferred in the same manner as in the first cylinder, cooled by a low temperature heat medium in the heat exchange section 16, and By introducing low-pressure hydrogen into the cylinder into this heat exchange section, metal hydride"
absorbs this hydrogen. Therefore, according to this device, hydrogen having a high equilibrium decomposition pressure at the temperature of the high-temperature heat medium can be obtained from hydrogen having a low equilibrium decomposition pressure at the temperature of the low-temperature heat medium, and functions as a so-called hydrogen compressor. The metal hydride can be circulated in a closed space by suitable means from the discharge end 18 of the second cylinder to the supply end 4 of the first cylinder, so that in this case the hydrogen pipe 9 of the first cylinder High-pressure hydrogen can be obtained continuously from

Furthermore, the device of the present invention can function as a heat pump.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of the cooling system. Hydrogen pipes 9 and 19 are connected via a compressor 20, hydrogen is removed from the low temperature heat exchange section 16 at a temperature TL, and hydrogen is removed from the high temperature heat exchange section 16 at a temperature TH. Hydrogen is supplied to section 8 under pressure. Therefore, in the process of being transferred within the first cylinder, the metal hydride is first cooled to the temperature TH in the high-temperature heat exchange section, absorbs hydrogen, and is pressured shut off by the metal hydride transport member 6. is transferred to the supply end of the second cylinder and placed in a reduced pressure hydrogen atmosphere in the low temperature heat exchange section of the second cylinder, so that the temperature TL
It releases hydrogen while absorbing heat from the heat medium. A heating medium at a temperature T is connected to a cooling load (FIG. 1). By circulating the metal hydride that has released hydrogen to the feed end of the first cylinder, cold heat is continuously provided to the low temperature heating medium. Conversely, if hydrogen is removed from the low-temperature heat exchange section and hydrogen is supplied under pressure to the high-temperature heat exchange section, the metal hydride releases hydrogen while being heated in the low-temperature heat exchange section, and then is heated in the high-temperature heat exchange section. Since it absorbs hydrogen exothermically, it functions as a heating device by connecting a high-temperature heat medium to a heating load.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the present invention, in which the first and second cylinders 1 and 2 are integrally formed, and the first and second screws 3 and 15 are also common to both cylinders. The screw shaft is gradually enlarged from the discharge end 5 of the first cylinder to the supply end 13 of the second cylinder, so that the inner wall of the cylinder and the thread groove of the screw are connected between the heat exchange part. By reducing the gap between the first and second cylinders and transferring the metal hydride while compressing it, the first and second cylinders are pressure-blocked.

At the same time, the pitch of the screw may be gradually reduced. If desired, as shown in Fig. 4, the screw shafts can be gradually enlarged in the direction of metal hydride transfer on both sides of the screw in the axial direction, sandwiching each heat exchange part, so that the heat exchange part can be moved into the cylinder. It is also possible to shut it off pressure-wise.

As described above, according to the apparatus of the present invention, when the metal hydride is continuously transferred inside the cylinder and is subjected to heat exchange in at least two heat exchange sections, the heat exchange sections are pressure-blocked from each other. Therefore, in each heat exchange section, hydrogen can be stored and released from the metal hydride at a predetermined pressure level, and the device can be made smaller and more efficient.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows the equilibrium decomposition pressure characteristics of a metal hydride, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the metal hydride device of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram when the device of the present invention functions as a heat pump device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another embodiment. 1, 2... Cylinder, 3, 15... Screw, 4, 13... Supply end, 5, 18...
...Discharge end, 6...Metal hydride transport member,
7, 17... Heat medium flow path, 8, 16...
・Heat exchange section, 9, 19... Hydrogen B tube, 10...
... Airtight container, 11 ... Rotating shaft, 12 ...
- Core, 14... closed space, 20... compressor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A sealed first cylinder, a screw that rotates in a hydrogen atmosphere within this cylinder to transfer a metal hydride, and a metal hydride that is transferred through the cylinder wall or the screw wall in the process of transferring the metal hydride. A first heat exchange section that exchanges heat with the hydride, a hydrogen pipe communicating with this heat exchange section, a sealed second cylinder, and a cylinder that rotates in a hydrogen atmosphere in this cylinder to exchange the metal hydride. A screw for transferring, a second heat exchange section that exchanges heat with the metal hydride through the cylinder wall or the screw wall during the process of transferring the metal hydride, and a hydrogen pipe communicating with the heat exchange section; 1. A metal hydride transporting member that receives metal hydride from a discharge end of a first cylinder, transports the metal hydride through a closed space, and supplies the metal hydride to a supply end of a second cylinder.