Increasing the Metal-Hydride Power Density Using Phase-Change Materials, Advanced Thermal Supports, and Expanded Graphite Nano-Particles

The large-scale integration of renewable energy systems requires hydrogen storage technologies that can decouple energy production from energy utilization and allow for seasonal storage. Metal hydrides can offer higher volumetric energy density and operational safety than compressed H2 but are limited by heat-transfer constraints that slow hydrogen absorption and desorption. This work investigates the performance of metal hydride–phase-change material hydrogen storage systems through advanced numerical modeling. Five reactor geometries are evaluated to quantify how longitudinal fins, transversal fins, helical fin structures, and graphite-enhanced composites influence heat removal, charge/discharge rates, and overall power density. Results show that longitudinal and transversal fins accelerate hydrogen absorption and desorption, reducing cycle times by up to 80.6%. The optimized finned helix configuration achieves the highest performance, with a power density of 2.55 kW/kg and charge/discharge powers of 6.75 kW and 13.25 kW, respectively. Expanded graphite further enhances kinetics in low-Biot-number designs, reducing cycle times by more than 30%. These findings provide design guidelines to maximize performance and efficiency of solid-state hydrogen storage for medium- and high-power applications.