• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.527-535
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• 2017

Heat management is one of the most critical issues in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) installed inside the fuel cell power pack of a fuel cell battery hybrid UPS. If the heat generated by the chemical reaction in the fuel cell is not rapidly removed, the durability and performance of the fuel cell may be affected, which may shorten its lifetime. Therefore, the objective of this study is to select and propose a proper cooling method for the fuel cells used in the fuel cell power pack of a UPS. In order to find the most appropriate cooling method, the various design factors affecting the cooling performance were studied. The numerical analysis was performed by a commercial program, i.e., COMSOL Multiphysics. Firstly, the surface temperature of the 1 kW class fuel cell stack with the cooling fans placed at the top was compared with the one with the cooling fans placed at the bottom. Various rotation speeds of the cooling fan, viz. 2,500, 3,000, 3,500, and 4,000 RPM, were tested to determine the proper cooling fan speed. In addition, the influence of the inhaled air flow rate was investigated by changing the porous area of the grille, which is the entrance of the air flowing from the outside to the inside of the power pack. As a result, it was found that for the operating conditions of the 1 kW class PEMFC to be acceptable, the cooling fan was required to have a minimum rotating speed of 3500 RPM to maintain the fuel cell surface temperature within an acceptable range. The results of this study can be effectively applied to the development of thermal management technology for the fuel cells inside the fuel cell power pack of a UPS.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.42-48
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• 2016

This study presents an experiment investigation on natural convection heat transfer of air-cooling Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) in a enclosure system for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Considered are replacing fuel cell stack with Aluminum block for heat generating inside a enclosure chamber. The volume ratio of fuel cell stack and chamber for simulation to the actual size of aerial vehicle is 1 to 15. The parameters considered for experimental study are the environmental temperature range from $25^{\circ}C$ to $-60^{\circ}C$ and the block heat input of 10 W, 20 W and 30 W. Effect of the thermal conductivity of the block and power level on heat transfer in the chamber are investigated. Experimental results illustrate the temperature rise at various locations inside the chamber as dependent upon heat input of fuel cell stack and environmental temperature. From the results, dimensionless correlation in natural convection was proposed with Nusselt number and Rayleigh number for designing air-cooling PEMFC powered high altitude long endurance (HALE) UAV.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.236-244
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• 2021

Fuel cell systems for medium duty truck require high power demands under driving. Since high power demands results in significant heat generation, thermal management is crucial for the performance and durability of medium duty truck. Therefore, various configurations of dual stacks with cooling systems are investigated to understand appropriate thermal management conditions. The simulation model consists of a dynamic fuel cell stack model, a cooling system model equipped with a controller, and the mounted controller applies a feedback controller to control the operating temperature. Also, In order to minimize parasitic power, the comparison of the cooling systems involved in the arrangement was divided into three case. As a result, this study compares the reaction of fuel cells to the placement of the cooling system under a variety of load conditions to find the best placement method.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.667-672
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• 2023

This study proposes polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based cogeneration system for greenhouse heating and cooling. The main scope of this study is to examine the proposed cogeneration system's suitability for the 660 m²-class greenhouse. A 25 kW PEMFC system generates electricity for two identical air-cooled heat pumps, each with a nominal heating capacity of 70 kW and a cooling capacity of 65 kW. Heat recovered from the fuel cell supports the heat pump, supplying hot water to the greenhouse. In cooling mode, the adsorption system provides cold water to the greenhouse using recovered heat from the fuel cell. As a result, the cogeneration system satisfies both heating and cooling capability, performing 175 and 145 kW, respectively.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.187-195
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• 2023

Data centers not only consume significant electricity to operate IT equipment, but also use a lot of electricity to cool the heat generated by IT equipment. The waste heat of a high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEFC) is capable of producing cooling , so it can be effectively applied to data centers that require cooling throughout the year. The energy-saving effects of the proposed combined cooling, heat and power (CCHP) system using HT-PEFC. That was analyzed based on the annual energy consumption data of a specific data center. When the system was running at 100% of the year, It was shown that the installation of 1 MW of the proposed system can save 3,407 MWh of electrical energy per year. In addition, compared to the existing system, the annual power usage effectiveness can be improved from 2.0 to 1.57 and 6,293 MWh of extra heat energy per year can be produced to sell. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis was performed on the fuel cell operating temperature and current density to guide the appropriate installation capacity of the proposed system.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.82-87
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• 2007

In the present study, the simulation on the annual performance evaluation of a renewable energy systems with fuel cell driven compound source hybrid heat pump systems is applied to the heating and cooling of large community building. The large community building has the economical advantage to apply heat pump cooling and heating systems the long period operation. If air and ground source hybrid heat pump systems are combined, COP of the system can be increased largely. Fuel cell driven compound source hybrid heat pump system can reduced the fuel cost as well as thermal storage tank sharply.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.99-106
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• 2011

This paper deals with engine room layout design optimization of fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV), which has been proposed as a potential alternative to fossil fuel depletion. Investing the great R&D efforts, the global vehicle manufacturers, especially Honda motor corporate, have shown not prototype vehicle but commercial vehicle using fuel cell in the market recently. In this paper, we analyze cooling performance and flow characteristic in the engine room of newly FCEV, in addition we suggest the optimization process for engine room layout design optimization. The two radiators in the vehicle for fuel cell stack and electronic components cooling have been analyzed and their performance are obtained in terms of cooling performance ratio (CPR). The value of CPR should always be less than one and based on criteria, we have achieved the optimum cooling performance of radiators for stack and electronic components. Aerodynamic performance is evaluated in terms of drag coefficient, improved through underbody modification using air devices.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.87-93
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• 2008

The $CO_2$ air conditioning system installed in fuel cell vehicles could be used either for stack cooling or for cabin cooling, and thus was used for the stack cooling when additional stack heat release was required over a fixed radiator capacity for high power generation. This study investigated the performance of the stack cooling system using $CO_2$ air conditioner at various operating conditions. Also, the heat releasing effectiveness and mutual interference were analyzed for the stack cooling system using an air conditioner and compared with the conventional radiator cooling system with/without cabin cooling. The heat release of the stack cooling system with the aid of $CO_2$ air conditioner increased up to 36% more than that of the conventional radiator cooling system with cabin cooling. Furthermore, the heat release of the stack cooling system using $CO_2$ air conditioner increased more by 7% than that of the conventional radiator cooling system without cabin cooling.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.86-93
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• 2007

The PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell is one of the promising fuel cell systems as a new small power generating device for automobiles and buildings. The optimal design of cooling plates installed between MEA (membrane electrode assembly) is very important to achieve high performance and reliability of the PEMFC because it is very sensitive to temperature variations. In this study, six types of cooling plate models for the PEMFC including basic serpentine and parallel shapes were designed and their cooling performances were analyzed by using three-dimensional fluid dynamics with commercial software. The model 3 designed by revising the basic serpentine model represented the best cooling performance among them in the aspect of uniformity of temperature distribution and thermal reliability, The serpentine models showed higher pressure drop than the parallel models due to a higher flow rate.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.12
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• pp.1185-1192
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• 2012

The typical operating temperature of an automotive fuel cell is lower than that of an internal combustion engine, which necessitates a refined strategy for thermal management. In particular, the performance of the cooling module has to be higher for a fuel cell system because the temperature difference between the fuel cell and the surrounding is lower than in the case of the internal combustion engine. Even though the cooling system of an automotive fuel cell determines the operating temperature and temperature distribution of the fuel cell, it has attracted little research attention. This study presents the mathematical model of a cooling system for an automotive fuel cell system using Matlab/$Simulink^{(R)}$. In particular, a radiator model is developed for design optimization from the development stage to the operating stage for an automotive fuel cell. The cooling system model comprises a fan, pump, and radiator. The pump and fan model have an empirical relation, and the dynamics of the pump and fan are only explained by motor dynamics. The basic design study was conducted, and the geometric setup of the radiator was investigated. When the control logic was applied, the pump senses the coolant inlet temperature and the fan senses the coolant out temperature. Additionally, the cooling module is integrated with the fuel cell system model so that the performance of the cooling module can be investigated under realistic operating conditions.