• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3407-3412
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• 2007

The performance characteristics of the polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) were investigated under various humidification conditions at steady-state and transient conditions. The PEFC studied in this study was characterized by I-V curves in potentiostatic mode. The I-V curves representing steady-state performance were obtained from OCV to 0.25V, and the dynamic performance responses were obtained at some points of voltages. The anodic external humidification was applied and the humidity was controlled from 20% to 100%. The effects of relative humidity of hydrogen were measured with the dry air at the cathode. At high voltage region, the performance at high temperature was higher, but at low voltage region, low temperature condition showed the higher performance. The dynamic responses were observed at the instant when the voltage of the PEFC was changed. It was observed that the performance reached steady-state earlier with the increase of temperature.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.196-202
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• 2007

The performance characteristics of the polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCS) were investigated under various humidification conditions at steady-state and transient conditions. The PEFC studied in this study was characterized by I-V curves in the potentiostatic mode and EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy). The I-V curves representing steady-state performance were obtained from OCV to 0.25 V, and the dynamic performance responses were obtained at some voltages. The effects of anodic external humidification were measured by varying relative humidity of hydrogen from 20% to 100% while dry air was supplied in the cathode. At the high voltage region, the performance became higher with the increase of the temperature, while at the low voltage region, the performance decreased with the increase of temperature. The EIS showed that ohmic losses were larger at the dry condition of membrane and the effects of mass transport losses increased remarkably when the external and self-humidification were high. The dynamic responses were also monitored by changing the voltage of the PEFC instantly. As the temperature increased, the current reached steady-state earlier. The self-humidification with the generated water delayed the stabilization of the current except for low voltage conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.596-603
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• 2009

The performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is seriously changed by the humidification condition which is intrinsic characteristics of the PEMFC. Typically, the humidification of fuel cell is carried out with internal or external humidifier. A membrane humidifier is applied to the external humidification of residential power generation fuel cell due to its convenience and high performance. In this study, a simple static model is constructed to understand the physical phenomena of the membrane humidifier in terms of geometric parameters and operating parameters. The model utilizes the concept of shell and tube heat exchanger but the model is also able to estimate the mass transport through the membrane. Model is constructed with FORTRAN under Matlab/$Simulink^{(R)}$ $\Box$environment to keep consistency with other components model which we already developed. Results shows that the humidity of wet gas and membrane thickness are critical parameters to improve the performance of the humidifier.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.491-498
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• 2010

Humidification of PEM fuel cells is necessary for enhancing their performance and lifetime. In this study, a humidification system was designed and tested; the system includes an air-supply tube (inner diameter: 75 mm) through which a nozzle can be directly inserted and a cyclonic separator for the removal of water droplets. Three types of nozzles were employed to study the influence of injection pressure, air flow rate, and spray direction on the humidification performance. To evaluate the humidification performance, the concept of humidification efficiency was defined. In the absence of an external heat source, latent heat for evaporation will be supplied by the own enthalpies of water and air. Thus, the amount of water sprayed from the nozzle is the most critical factor affecting the humidification efficiency. Water droplets were efficiently removed by a cyclonic separator, but re-entrainment occurred at high air flow rates. The absolute humidity and humidification efficiency were $21.29\;kJ/kg_{da}$ and 86.57%, respectively, under the following conditions: nozzle type PJ24; spray direction angle $90^{\circ}$; injection pressure 1200 kPa; air flow rate 6000 Nlpm.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.31 no.7 s.262
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• pp.588-595
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• 2007

The water transport inside a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) varied according to the anodic supply mode. The performance characteristics of a PEFC which can be affected by the water transport were observed with the anodic supply mode. In the flow-through and recirculation mode the performance showed no reduction with time because the flow in the anode was not stagnated. In the dead-end mode, without any discharged gas, the water remains inside of the anode, which caused the reduction of the performance with the lapse of time. However, even in the dead-end mode, little reduction of the performance with time was shown when only the anode was humidified externally. It means that the back-diffusion was the major factor to the accumulation of water in the anode rather than external humidification.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.98.2-98.2
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• 2011

For optimal performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) requires hydration, and the membrane's conductivity depends on water content. A humidifier is required to ensure that the reactant gas, usually hydrogen and air, is hydrated before entering the fuel cell. Dry membrane operation or improper hydration causes performance degradation. Typically, the humidification of a fuel cell is carried out by means of an internal or external humidifier. A membrane humidifier is applied to the external humidification of transportation or residential power generation fuel cell due to its convenience and high performance. In this study, The experiments were constructed with a plate-type membrane humidifier in terms of geometric parameters and operating parameters. The results show that the temperature and pressure, the channel length, the membrane thickness and gas flow rate are critical parameters affecting the performance of the humidifier.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.87-91
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• 2020

The tracheostomy directs external air into the airway tract. This process causes mucosal dryness, irritation and inflammation in the tracheo-bronchial tree. In order to prevent such problems, several methods are applied; ointment application, humidification and careful suction etc. The heat-moisture exchanger (HME) is commercially sold device that assists heating and humidification of the inhaled air. The authors experienced successful treatment outcome of intractable tracheitis caused by repetitive and vigorous intra-tracheal suction by applying HME in a total laryngectomized patient. We report an interesting and didactic case with a brief literature review.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2011

Composite membranes based on sulfonated poly(aryl ether) sulfone (SPAES) with different sulfated zirconia nanoparticles ($s-ZrO_2$) ratio are synthesized and investigated for the improvement of the hydration and the proton conductivity at high temperature and no humidification for fuel cell applications. X-ray diffraction technique is employed to characterize the structure and the size of $s-ZrO_2$ nanoparticles. The sulfation effect of $s-ZrO_2$ nanoparticles is verified by FT-IR analysis. The properties of the SPAES composite membranes with the various $s-ZrO_2$ ratio are evaluated by ion exchange capacity and water content. The proton conductivities of the composite membranes are estimated at room temperature with full hydration and at the various high temperature without external humidification. The composite membrane with 5 wt% $s-ZrO_2$ shows the highest proton conductivity. The proton conductivities are $0.9292\;S\;cm^{-1}$ at room temperature with full hydration and $0.0018\;S\;cm^{-1}$ at $120^{\circ}C$ without external humidification, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.212-216
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• 2003

The humidification measurement system designed in laboratory was used to measure relative humidity and temperature of reaction gases passing through internal or external humidifier which was used in proton exchange membrane fuel cell test station. The relative humidity of gases was stabilized after $10\~20$ minutes and thus credibility of data could be assured. The effect of relative humidity on fuel cell performance could be analyzed by humidity measurement system. Extreme caution was needed to avoid humidity sensor mal-function or failure which is probable in experiment of high humidity condition near $100\%$. The amount of water carried by gas through humidifier was increased along the flow rate of gas. However, the extent of increase was lowered at high gas flow rate. These phenomena could be analyzed as residence time effect of gas in humidifier.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.345-348
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• 2009

Maintaining proper membrane humidity is crucial to ensure optimal operation of a PEMFC system. A gas-to-gas membrane humidifier is popular technology for external humidification of PEMFC reactant gases. Characteristics of heat and water transfer in shell-and-tube Nafion membrane humidifiers has been experimentally investigated for various dry side inlet temperature of membrane humidifier. The results show that heat flux decreases linearly with dry side inlet temperature of membrane humidifier. The water flux through the membrane varies nonlinearly with the temperature elevation.