THERMAL-ANALYSIS OF THE CA(0.4)MM(0.6)NI(5) METAL-HYDRIDE REACTOR

Experimental results are presented for the coupled metal-hydride react ors of Ca(0.4)Mm(0.6)Ni(5) (Mm = misch metal) with hydrogen pumped by the compressor. In order to-augment the heat transfer in the reactor, metal hydride powders were copper-coated and compressed into a porous metal hydride (PMH) compacts. The reactors, packaged with these PMH co mpacts, produced continuous cooling output of approximately 0.8 kW/kg of Ca(0.4)Mm(0.6)Ni(5) when the cycle time was set at 4 minutes. The e xperimental results indicate that optimized reactors of viable specifi c powers can be fabricated. In addition, comparisons between experimen tal and theoretical work are in a good agreement. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sc ience Ltd. All rights reserved.