A numerical study of heat and mass transfer in an adsorption type hydrogen storage tank

Abstract

Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.

In this paper numerical solutions of a mathematical model that describes the heat transfer, the fluid flow and the sorption process in a cylindrical adsorption type hydrogen storage tank are presented. The tank operates at cryogenic temperatures and the storage approach is intended for use in automotive applications. The model is solved using the spectral element method combined with an overall third order accurate time stepping scheme. Numerical experiments show that the time to fill the tank decreases with increasing charging pressure and that low conductive heat fluxes constrain the filling process.