Alternating Hydrogen Supply System with Multiple Metal Hydride Hydrogen Tanks for Small Fuel Cell Vehicle

A small fuel cell vehicle with metal hydride hydrogen tanks has been developed, and an alternating hydrogen supply system using multiple tanks is proposed in this paper. A metal hydride hydrogen tank has the characteristic of cooling when releasing hydrogen, and when ambient temperatures are low, hydrogen supply to fuel cells is cut off. Experiments were conducted to compare a parallel supply scheme and an alternating supply scheme which uses two tanks, and it was found that the alternating supply scheme has slower cooling of the tanks. In this paper, we will explain the mechanical and electric circuit system of the fabricated small fuel cell vehicle, and the test results of the proposed alternating hydrogen supply system.