• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.381-387
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• 2017

Dehydrogenation from the hydrolysis of a sodium borohydride ($NaBH_4$) solution has been of interest owing to its high theoretical hydrogen storage capacity (10.8 wt.％) and potentially safe operation. An experimental study has been performed on the catalytic reaction rate and pressure drop of a $NaBH_4$ solution over both a single microchannel with a hydraulic diameter of $300{\mu}m$ and a staggered array of micro pin fins in the microchannel with hydraulic diameter of $50{\mu}m$. The catalytic reaction rates and pressure drops were obtained under Reynolds numbers from 1 to 60 and solution concentrations from 5 to 20 wt.％. Moreover, reacting flows were visualized using a high-speed camera with a macro zoom lens. As a result, both the amount of hydrogenation and pressure drop are 2.45 times and 1.5 times larger in a pin fin microchannel array than in a single microchannel, respectively.