Abstract: The thermal management of metal hydrides (MH) hydrogen storage systems is one of the key factors to ensure the hydrogen absorption and desorption performance of MH systems at desired levels. However, the low effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of MH beds brought a great challenge for heat transfer. Up to now, various thermal management techniques have been investigated theoretically and experimentally to improve the rate and capacity of hydrogen adsorption/desorption. This paper summarized and reviewed the reported MH hydrogen storage thermal management schemes in recent years from the aspects of heat conduction enhancement design, heat exchanger area enhancement design, exchanger design and heat supply strategy, etc., and focused on the heat transfer performance and hydrogen absorption/desorption performance of the changes, the advantages and disadvantages of different thermal management systems. Finally, some suggestions for the future MH hydrogen storage system designs were provided.

Key words: metal hydrides, thermal management, heat transfer enhancement, hydrogen adsorption and desorption