• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.761-769
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• 2007

The configuration of the flow channel on a bipolar plate of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) for efficient reactant supply has great influence on the performance of the fuel cell. Recent demand for higher energy density fuel cells requires an increase in current density at mid voltage range and a decrease in concentration overvoltage at high current density. Therefore, an interdigitated flow channel where mass transfer rate by convection through a gas diffusion layer is greater than the mass transfer by a diffusion mechanism through a gas diffusion layer was recently proposed. This study attempts to analyze the i-V performance, mass transfer and pressure drop in interdigitated flow channels by developing a fully three dimensional simulation model for PEMFC that can deal with anode and cathode flow together. The results indicate that the trade off between performance and pressure loss should be considered for efficient design of flow channels. Although the performance of the fuel cell with interdigitated flow is better than that with conventional flow channels due to a strong mass transfer rate by convection across a gas diffusion layer, there is also an increase in friction due to the strong convection through the porous diffusion layer accompanied by a larger pressure drop along the flow channel. It was evident that the proper selection of the ratio of channel and rib width under counter flow conditions in the fuel cell with interdigitated flow are necessary to optimize the interdigitated flow field design.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3440-3445
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• 2007

For proton exchange membrane fuel cell, it is very important to design the flow channel on separation plate optimally to maximize the current density at same electrochemical reaction surface and reduce the concentration polarization occurred at high current density. In this paper, three dimensional computation model including anode and cathode domain together was developed to examine effects of flow patterns and operation conditions such as humidity and operating temperature on performance of fuel cell. Results show that voltage at counter flow condition is higher than that at coflow condition in parallel and interdigitated flow pattern. And fuel cell with interdigitated flow pattern which has better mass transport by convection flow through gas diffusion layer has higher performance than with parallel flow pattern but its pressure drop is increased such that the trade off between performance and pressure drop should be considered for selection of flow pattern of fuel cell.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.361-364
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• 2009

KEPRI has studied planar type SOFC stacks using anode-supported single cells and kW class co-generation systems for residential power generation. A 1kW class SOFC system consisted of a hot box part, a cold BOP part and a water reservoir. A hot box part contains a SOFC stack made up of 48 cells with $10{\times}10cm^2$ area and ferritic stainless steel interconnectors, a fuel reformer, a catalytic combustor and heat exchangers. Thermal management and insulation system were especially designed for self-sustainable operation. A cold BOP part was composed of blowers, pumps, a water trap and system control units. When a 1kW class SOFC system was operated at $750^{\circ}C$ with hydrogen, the stack power was 1.2kW at 30 A and 1.6kW at 50A. Turning off an electric furnace, the SOFC system was operated using hydrogen and city gas without any external heat source. Under self-sustainable operation conditions, the stack power was about 1.3kW with hydrogen and 1.2kW with city gas respectively. The system also recuperated heat of about 1.1kW by making hot water. Recently KEPRI developed stacks using $15{\times}15cm^2$ cells and tested them. KEPRI will develop a 5 kW class CHP system using $15{\times}15cm^2$ stacks by 2010.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.384-389
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• 2009

KEPRI (Korea Electric Power Research Institute) has studied planar type solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks using anode-supported cells and kW class co-generation systems for residential power generation. In this work, a 1 kW SOFC system consisted of a hot box part, a cold BOP (balance of plant) part, and a hot water reservoir. The hot box part contained a SOFC stack made up of 48 cells, a fuel reformer, a catalytic combustor, and heat exchangers. Thermal management and insulation system were especially designed for self-sustainable operation in that system. A cold BOP part was composed of blowers, pumps, a water trap, and system control units. When the 1 kW SOFC stack was tested using hydrogen at $750^{\circ}C$, the stack power was about $1.2\;kW_e$ at 30 A and $1.6\;kW_e$ at 50 A. Turning off an electric furnace, the SOFC system was operated using hydrogen and city gas without any external heat source. Under self-sustainable operation conditions, the stack power was about $1.3\;kW_e$ with hydrogen and $1.2\;kW_e$ with city gas respectively. The system also recuperated heat of about $1.1\;kW_{th}$ by making hot water.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.113-120
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• 2013

A steam reformer is a chemical reactor to produce high purity hydrogen from fossil fuel. In the steam reformer, since endothermic steam reforming is heated by exothermic combustion of fossil fuel, the heat transfer between two reaction zones dominates conversion of fossil fuel to hydrogen. Steam Reforming is complex chemical reaction, mass and heat transfer due to the exothermic methane/air combustion reaction and the endothermic steam reforming reaction. Typically, a steam reformer employs burner to supply appropriate heat for endothermic steam reforming reaction which reduces system efficiency. In this study, the heat of steam reforming reaction is provided by anode-off gas combustion of stationary fuel cell. This paper presents a optimization of heat transfer effect and average temperature of cross-section using two-dimensional models of a coaxial cylindrical reactor, and analysis three-dimensional models of a coaxial cylindrical steam reformer with chemical reaction. Numerical analysis needs to dominant chemical reaction that are assumed as a Steam Reforming (SR) reaction, a Water-Gas Shift (WGS) reaction, and a Direct Steam Reforming(DSR) reaction. The major parameters of analysis are temperature, fuel conversion and heat flux in the coaxial reactor.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.49-62
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• 2016

In this study, a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system model including balance of plant (BOP) for building electric power generation is developed to study the effect of operating conditions on the system efficiency and power output. SOFC system modeled in this study consists of three heat-exchangers, an external reformer, burner, and two blowers. A detailed computational cell model including internal reforming reaction is developed for a planer SOFC stack which is operated at intermediate temperature (IT). The BOP models including an external reformer, heat-exchangers, a burner, blowers, pipes are developed to predict the gas temperature, pressure drops and flow rate at every component in the system. The SOFC stack model and BOP models are integrate to estimate the effect of operating parameters on the performance of the system. In this study, the design of experiment (DOE) is used to compare the effects of fuel flow rate, air flow rate, air temperature, current density, and recycle ratio of anode off gas on the system efficiency and power output.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.405-412
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• 2012

In the MCFC power generation system, the combustor supplies a high temperature mixture of gases to the cathode and heat to the reformer by using the off-gas from the anode; the off-gas includes high concentrations of $H_2O$ and $CO_2$. Since a combustor needs to be operated in a very lean condition and avoid local heating, a catalytic combustor is usually adopted. Catalytic combustion is also generally accepted as one of the environmentally preferred alternatives for generation of heat and power from fossil fuels because of its complete combustion and low emissions of pollutants such as CO, UHC, and $NO_x$. In this study, experiments were conducted on catalytic combustion behavior in the presence of Pd-based catalysts for the BOP (Balance Of Plant) of 5 kW MCFC (Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell) power generation systems. Extensive investigations were carried out on the catalyst performance with the gaseous $CH_4$ fuel by changing such various parameters as $H_2$ addition, inlet temperature, excess air ratio, space velocity, catalyst type, and start-up schedule of the pilot system adopted in the BOP.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.641-648
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• 2011

Off-gases emitted from the anode of a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) at high temperatures for power generation are used as fuel in catalytic combustion. The heat generated in the catalytic combustor is utilized as the heat for the endothermic reaction required for steam reforming. Among the various operational conditions of the integrated reactor, we varied the inlet gas compositions of the catalytic combustor according to fuel utilization in the MCFC and the ratio of steam to carbon in the reformer. Subsequently, the thermal behaviors and reaction characteristics of the integrated reactor were investigated experimentally. The fundamental data from this experimental study will be useful for the design and fabrication of a more practical integrated reactor in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.170-177
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• 2006

Optimum design of flow channel in the separation plate of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell is very prerequisite to reduce concentration over potential at high current region and remove the water generated in cathode effectively. In this paper, fully 3 dimensional computational model which solves anode and cathode flow fields simultaneously is developed in order to compare the performance of fuel cell with parallel and interdigitated flow channels. Oxygen and water concentration and pressure drop are calculated and i-V performance characteristics are compared between flows with two flow channels. Results show that performance of fuel cell with interdigitated flow channel is hi민or than that with parallel flow channel at high current region because hydrogen and oxygen in interdigitated flow channel are transported to catalyst layer effectively due to strong convective transport through gas diffusion layer but pressure drop is larger than that in parallel flow channel. Therefore Trade-off between power gain and pressure loss should be considered in design of fuel cell with interdigitated flow channel.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.300-309
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• 2012

Long endurance is a key issue in the application of unmanned aerial vehicles. This study presents feasibility test results when fuel cell system as an alternative to the conventional engine is applied for the power of the UAV after the 150W fuel cell system is developed and packaged to the 1/4 scale super cub airplane. Fuel cell system is operated by dead-end method in the anode part and periodically purged to remove the water droplet in flow field during the operation. Oxygen in the air is supplied to the stack by the two air blowers. And fuel cell stack is water cooled by cooling circuit to dissipate the heat generated during the fuel cell operation. Weight balance is considered to integrate the stack and balance of plant (BOP) in package layout. In flight performance test, we demonstrated 4 times standalone take-off and landing. In the laboratory test simulating the flight condition to quantify the energy flow, the system is analyzed in detail. Sankey diagram shows that electric efficiency of the fuel cell system is 39.2%, heat loss 50.1%, parasitic loss 8.96%, and unreacted purged gas 1.67%, respectively compared to the total hydrogen input energy. Feasibility test results show that fuel cell system is high efficient and appropriate for the power of UAV.