Prof. Yunting Ge

Centre for Civil and Building Services Engineering (CCiBSE), School of the Built Environment and Architecture, London South Bank University, UK

E-mail: yunting.ge@lsbu.ac.uk

Bio

Professor Yunting Ge is a Professor of Building Services Engineering in the School of the Engineering and Design at London South Bank University (LSBU), where he also serves as Director of the Centre for Civil and Building Services Engineering (CCiBSE). He holds BSc and MSc degrees from Xi’an Jiaotong University and a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University, with academic expertise spanning Thermofluids, Energy, Hydrogen, and the Built Environment. With over 25 years of research and development experience, Professor Ge has led numerous projects in energy conservation technologies, hydrogen applications, and sustainable built environments. He is currently the principal investigator on research projects funded by EPSRC and Innovate UK, with a cumulative funding portfolio exceeding £7.13 million. He has supervised more than 13 Ph.D. students and several post-doctoral researchers and has authored over 170 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. Externally, Professor Ge is the President of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) Commission E1, a Fellow of the UK’s Institute of Refrigeration (IOR), and an Associate Editor of Energy Reports (Elsevier). He also contributes to the academic community as a committee member for multiple international conferences. 

Title

Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of Multi-stage Hydrogen Compression with Metal Hydride Technology

Abstract

Hydrogen is a key future fuel for applications such as combustion engines and fuel cell vehicles. However, its low volumetric energy density necessitates efficient storage in gaseous, liquid, or solid states. For gaseous storage, hydrogen must be compressed to over 400 bar to meet the requirements of refuelling stations for fuel cell vehicles. Thermally driven hydrogen compression using metal hydrides (MHs) offers a promising alternative, but several challenges remain, including low intake pressure, high compression ratios, optimization of MH alloys, and the need for high-efficiency reactor designs and control systems. To address these challenges, a multi-stage MH-based hydrogen compression test rig was designed, developed, and experimentally evaluated under various operating conditions. At a single stage with a heat source temperature of 150 °C, hydrogen was compressed to 62 bar, while a two-stage configuration under the same conditions achieved pressures up to 400 bar. A validated CFD model was also developed to simulate the system’s hydrogen absorption, desorption, and compression behaviour, as well as the associated heat and mass transfer dynamics. The model provides insights for performance optimization and system scalability. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential of MH-based hydrogen compression for practical applications, particularly when integrated with waste-heat recovery systems.