Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) Analysis of a Cold-adsorbed Hydrogen Tank During Refilling

Hydrogen has the potential to be an important source of clean energy, but the development of efficient and cost-effective methods for storing hydrogen is a key challenge that needs to be addressed in order to make widespread use of hydrogen as a possible energy sourc. There are different methods for storing hydrogen (i.e. compressed it at high pressures, liquefied by cooling the hydrogen to a temperature of -253°C and stored with a chemical compound), each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
MAST3RBoost (Maturing the Production Standards of Ultraporous Structures for High Density Hydrogen Storage Bank Operating on Swinging Temperatures and Low Compression) is a European project which aims to provide a solid benchmark of cold-adsorbed H2 storage (CAH2) at low compression (100 bar or below) by maturation of a new generation of ultraporous materials for mobility applications, i.e., H2-powered vehicles, including road and railway, air-borne and waterborne transportation. Based on a new generation of Machine Learning-improved ultraporous materials – such as Activated Carbons (ACs) and high-density MOFs (Metal-organic Frameworks) –, MAST3RBoost project will enable a disruptive path to meet the industry goals by developing the first worldwide adsorption-based demonstrator at the kg-scale.
The design of the tank is supported by numerical investigation by mean of the use of Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) commercial code. In this a paper a preliminary analysis of the refilling of tank is presented, focused on the effect of different tank configurations on the hydrogen temperature and on the hydrogen adsorption.