Project Summary
In this project, a novel hydrogen fuel cell (H2FC) system for Food Transport Refrigeration Trucks (FTRT) will be designed and simulated. The metal hydride (MH) tanks will be applied to ensure compact and safe onboard hydrogen storage. Meanwhile, the hydrogen desorption process from the MH tanks will be applied to produce cooling for the refrigerated storage and thus eliminate the conventional refrigeration system.
Project Achievements
Activities • A hydrogen fuel cell (H2FC) food transport refrigeration truck energy system with MH hydrogen storage and refrigeration was proposed and designed; • The MH hydrogen storage tank with 12 MH reactors was designed for a 32-ton H2FC food transport refrigeration truck; • The MH allow used in the MH hydrogen storage tank was selected and characterised; • Market opportunity and route for the proposed system and vehicles were reviewed and analysed.
Conclusions
• The proposed hydrogen fuel cell food transport refrigeration system with NH hydrogen storage and refrigeration capacity is feasible; • A new approach has been developed for the MH allow selections in different applications; • A model has been developed for the characterisations of MH alloys based on measurement data; • The MH allow selection and MH hydrogen storage tank design are applicable; • The development of the proposed system has significant impact on environment, society and government policy on zero emission target.
Next Steps
The proposed H2FC food transport refrigeration system will be further developed with a number of essential steps. These include: • MH alloy optimisation; • MH alloy characterisation with experiment; • Initial test and validation for a single tube-in- tube MH reactor; • Test rig development to measure the H2FC truck performance of hydrogen refuelling, storage, releasing , refrigeration and FC power generation; • Model development and system scale-up; • Future field test and commercialisation.
