Metal hydride heat pumps are a group of chemical heat pumps that rely on exothermic and endothermic reactions of hydrogen absorption and desorption in metal hydrides for their operation. They have several advantages like utilizing waste heat as their energy source, less vibration and noise as compared to vapor-compression based heat pumps, and lower maintenance cost. However, their capital cost is higher than conventional heat pumps which is mostly due to the cost of materials. By addressing the cost issue, metal hydride heat pumps can be proper substitutes for vapor-compression based systems with increased energy efficiency by using the waste heat of other thermal systems. This paper initially presents operational principles of metal hydride heat pumps and then summarizes effect of different operational parameters on the performance of a MHHP.

金属氢化物热泵是一组化学热泵，它们依靠放热和吸热反应使金属氢化物中的氢吸收和解吸。它们具有几个优点，例如利用废热作为能源，与基于蒸汽压缩的热泵相比，振动和噪声更少，维护成本更低。然而，它们的投资成本高于传统的热泵，这主要是由于材料成本。通过解决成本问题，金属氢化物热泵可以通过使用其他热力系统的废热来提高能源效率，从而替代基于蒸汽压缩的系统。本文首先介绍了金属氢化物热泵的运行原理，然后总结了不同运行参数对MHHP性能的影响。