Modeling of catalytic hydrogen generation from sodium borohydride

This paper presents a dynamic model compiled in gPROMS that describes the hydrogen production via the catalytic hydrolysis reactions of sodium borohydride (NaBH(4)) solutions. It extends our previous work for the self-hydrolysis of NaBH(4) [1], with the addition of a modified version of Davis et al. [2] empirical correlation to describe the reaction mechanism limiting step rate. The kinetic parameters were estimated using the gPROMS Parameter Estimation tool supported by experimental data in terms of produced gas volume and solution pH. The results have shown that the developed model accurately describes, not only the catalytic hydrolysis but also the self-inhibited self-hydrolysis and the alkaline storage of NaBH(4). This model allows the prediction of hydrogen volume, pressure, rate of release and solution stability for this hydrogen generation reaction.