Backup power is the application where solid-state hydrogen storage looks most obviously attractive and where the heat requirement most often kills it. Both halves of that sentence are worth taking seriously before a programme starts.
Long-duration backup measured in many hours or days rather than minutes; sites where a diesel genset is unacceptable for emissions or noise; installations where a high-pressure vessel is not permitted; and any site that has a continuous high-grade heat source available during an outage. It fits poorly as a straight UPS substitute or as a short-duration peaking asset.
The Pd/MWCNT catalyst that goes into the magnesium bed, characterised in two peer-reviewed Elsevier papers: 6.89 wt% capacity in AZ31 and 6.15 wt% reversible in AZ61, with 446 s absorption and 735 s desorption at 375 °C. Material capacity is not system capacity — containment, heat exchange and thermal mass all count against the number you can actually design to.
On emissions and noise, that is the argument. On cost and simplicity, diesel is hard to beat today. The honest case for hydride storage is sites where diesel is not permitted or not tolerable, not sites where diesel merely costs money.
Not instantly. Desorption needs heat, and heat takes time. Assume a battery or another fast asset in front of it for the first seconds to minutes, and design the transfer accordingly.
Lower than a battery. Hydride storage is not chosen for efficiency; it is chosen for duration, siting, safety and shelf stability.
That depends on your bed mass and the loading you design to, typically a few weight percent of the magnesium. Tell us the bed size and we can talk quantities.
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