New Delhi: Hydrogen run cars may soon be a reality for people. The researchers have developed such a system that will make it possible to fill vehicles fuel tank within a few minutes with enough hydrogen to drive 300 miles.
The system uses a fine powder called metal hydride to absorb hydrogen gas. The system's heat exchanger will circulate coolant through tubes and will use fins to remove heat generated as the hydrogen is absorbed by the powder. According to Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the research the system, overheating stops the absorption of heat successfully.
The system would enable motorists to fill their car with hydrogen in a few minutes which then would be used to power a fuel cell to generate electricity to drive an electric motor.
"The idea is to have a system that fills the tank and at the same time uses accessory connectors that supply coolant to extract the heat," said Mudawar, who is working with mechanical engineering graduate student Milan Visaria and Timothée Pourpoint, a research assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics and manager of the Hydrogen Systems Laboratory.
"This process is reversible, meaning the hydrogen gas may be released from the metal hydride by decreasing the pressure in the storage vessel," Mudawar said. "The heat exchanger is fitted inside the hydrogen storage pressure vessel. Due to space constraints, it is essential that the heat exchanger occupy the least volume to maximize room for hydrogen storage."
Conventional automotive coolant flows through a U-shaped tube traversing the length of the pressure vessel and heat exchanger. The heat exchanger, which is made mostly of aluminum, contains a network of thin fins that provide an efficient cooling path between the metal hydride and the coolant.
The system is the result of the untiring efforts put in by the researchers over the past two years.
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