Agency of Industrial Science and Technology

Kurimoto, Ltd.

Agency of Industrial Science & Technology and Kurimoto Ltd.

Iwao Nishimura

Hiroshi Suzuki

Hiroshi Ishikawa

Keisuke Oguro

Akihiko Kato

Teruya Okada

Shizuo Sakamoto

Keizo Sakaguchi

Keizo Sakaguichi

This invention relates to a novel heat exchanging unit with a hydrogen adsorption alloy of which thermal conductivity is kept high over a long period of use. Particularly in order to solve problems occurring at the time of forming a heat exchanging unit, by forming a compact of a hydrogen adsorption alloy and inserting a heat transfer element in the compact, such as insufficient heat transfer due to a small spacing produced between the compact and the heat transfer element, surface irregularities, decline in function due to micronization and scattering of the compact, difficulty in build-up, etc., there is disclosed a heat exchanging unit comprising a heat transfer element and a hydrogen adsorption alloy fitted to an outer periphery of the heat transfer element and solidly molded.

Heat exchanging unit with a hydrogen adsorption alloy

This invention relates to a novel heat exchanging unit with a hydrogen adsorption alloy of which thermal conductivity is kept high over a long period of use. Particularly in order to solve problems occurring at the time of forming a heat exchanging unit, by forming a compact of a hydrogen adsorption alloy and inserting a heat transfer element in the compact, such as insufficient heat transfer due to a small spacing produced between the compact and the heat transfer element, surface irregularities, decline in function due to micronization and scattering of the compact, difficulty in built-up, etc., there is disclosed a heat exchanging unit comprising a heat transfer element and a hydrogen adsorption alloy fitted to an inner periphery of the heat transfer element and solidly molded.

This invention discloses a compact of hydrogen adsorption alloy principally composed of a metal hydride in which all surfaces of fine particles of hydrogen adsorption alloy are completely coated with a dissimilar metal by plating, without effecting reactivity and a porous material of high thermal conductivity is infiltrated with the fine particles of alloy to be formed into a compact by compression molding. By this construction, it is possible to improve decline in the thermal conductivity or dropping of the fine particles out of cells of the porous material caused by micronization as a result of repeated uses of the hydrogen adsorption alloy are avoided.

Compact of hydrogen adsorption alloy

This invention discloses a heat exchanger comprising a compact of hydrogen adsorption alloy formed by a process of coating surfaces of fine particles of hydrogen adsorption alloy composed principally of a metal hydride with a dissimilar metal by plating and either by a process of compression molding of the coated alloy or by a process of filling a heat-conductive porous material with the coated fine particles of hydrogen alloy followed by a process of compression molding thereof. By this arrangement, it becomes possible to improve such disadvantages of conventional heat exchanger using hydrogen adsorption alloy as a decline of heat conductivity caused by micronization of the hydrogen adsorption alloy as a result of repeated uses or a decline of filling rate of the alloy caused by collapse and dispersion of the fine particles of the alloy compact eventually bringing about a decline of the heat exchanging function.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Iwao Nishimura