• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.31 no.12
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• pp.1033-1041
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• 2007

This paper studied the characteristics of performance and temperature in a unit cell of a planar type SOFC under various conditions by employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD). In order to derive thermal stress distribution and performance characteristics, the 3-D model simulation for a single channel was performed in various conditions which include interconnect materials $(LaCrO_3/AISI430)$, gas flow direction (co-flow/counter-flow) and inlet temperature (923 K/1173 K). From these results of a single channel, the most effective conditions were applied to the unit stack with multi-channel and the temperature distribution is displayed. Considering both thermal stress and performance, the best combination is 923 K inlet temperature, counter-flow and interconnector of stainless steel. As the end results, flow, thermal and current density distributions were found in the model with multi-channel applied to the best combination and were concentrated in the middle of channels than in the edge.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2010

A PEMFC(proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is a good candidate for residential power generation to be coped with the shortage of fossil fuel and green house gas emission. The attractive benefit of the PEMFC is to produce electric power as well as hot water for home usage. The thermal management of PEMFC for RPG is to utilize the heat of PEMFC so that the PEMFC can be operated at its optimal efficiency. In this study, thermal management system of PEMFC stack is modeled to understand the dynamic response during load change. The thermal management system of PEMFC for RPGFC is composed of two cooling circuits, one for controling the fuel cell temperature and the other for heating up the water for home usage. The different operating strategy is applied for each cooling circuit considering the duty of those two circuits. Even though the capacity of PEMFC system (1kW) is enough to supply hot domestic water for residence, heat-up of reservior takes some hours. Therefore, in this study, time schedule of the simulation reflects the heat-up process. Dynamic responses and operating strategies of the PEMFC system are investigated during load changes.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.62-67
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• 2019

This study was focused on the design and the performance analysis of integral Hot BoP for recovering waste heat from high-temperature exhaust gas in 2 kW class solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). The hot BoP system was consisted of a catalytic combustor, air preheater and steam generator for burning the stack exhaust gas and for recovering waste heat. In the design of the system, the maximum possible heat transfer was calculated to analyze the heat distribution processes. The detail design of the air preheater and steam generator was carried out by solving the heat transfer equation. The hot BoP was fabricated as a single unit to reduce the heat loss. The simulated stack exhaust gas which considered SOFC operation was used to the performance test. In the hot BoP performance test, the heat transfer rate and system efficiency were measured under various heat loads. The combustibility with the equivalent ratio was analyzed by measuring CO emission of the exhaust gas. As a result, the thermal efficiency of the hot BoP was about 60% based on the standard heat load of 2 kW SOFC. CO emission of the exhaust gas rapidly decreased at an equivalent ratio of 0.25 or more.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.150-158
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• 2009

A centrifugal turbo blower is one of the part to generate electric power of fuel cell electric vehicle(FCEV). In order to generate the electric power of FCEV, the centrifugal turbo blower operates at very high speed above 30,000rpm in order to increase the pressure of the air, which supplied to a stack of FCEV, using rotation of its impeller blades. Vibration which originated from the blower is generated by unbalance of mechanical components, rotation of bearings and rotating asymmetry that rotate at high speed. The vibration is transmitted to receiving structure through vibration isolators and it can causes serious problems in the noise, vibration and harshness(NVH) performance. Thus, the study about reducing this kind of vibration is an important task. Quantifying the effectiveness of vibration isolation can be effectively accomplished by using vibrational power flow because relative contributions of each isolator to the total vibration transmission can be easily represented. In this paper, vibrational power flow is applied to the centrifugal turbo blower mounted on FCEV in order to analyze the most dominant vibration transmitting path. As a result, the main contributor among four isolators is a mount #3 of the blower. Also, a 30 percent lowering of the mount #3 stiffness shows 34 percent decrement of vibrational power flow by the simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2018

FCV is installed with a automatic valve attached in an high pressure cylinder to control the hydrogen flow. The supply of hydrogen from the cylinder into the fuel cell stack is controlled via the on/off operation of a solenoid attached to the automatic valve. The solenoid needs to provide the necessary attraction force even at any saturation temperature caused by drive of the vehicle. In this study, the simplified prediction equations for the saturation temperature are suggested. The finite element analysis was performed by steady state technique, according to the boundary condition in order to predict the saturation temperature and attraction force. Finally, the saturation temperature was validated through comparison between the analysis results and measurement results. From the results, the measured saturation temperature $5.9^{\circ}C$ lower with respect to the analysis results. And the error of attraction force ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 N at testing conditions.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2022

In the process of long-term use of PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells), chemical degradation of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) occurs due to corrosion of stack elements and contamination of supply gas. In this study, we investigated whether chemically degraded MEA can be recovered by acid washing. The performance was measured and compared in a PEMFC cell after contamination with iron ions and washing with an aqueous sulfuric acid solution. The performance was reduced by about 25% by 0.5 ppm iron ion contamination, and 97.1% performance recovery was possible by washing of 0.15 M sulfuric acid. The membrane resistance was increased due to iron ion contamination of the polymer membrane, and the ionic conductivity was restored by washing the iron ions from the membrane while minimizing the loss of the electrode catalyst by washing with a low-concentration sulfuric acid aqueous solution. The possibility of solving the decrease in durability caused by chemical contamination of PEMFC MEA by the acid washing was confirmed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 2013

In this study, a metal-plated polycarbonate was adopted as a material for bipolar plates in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The coated layers included 40-${\mu}m$-thick copper, 10-${\mu}m$-thick nickel, and 0.3-${\mu}m$-thick gold that respectively played the roles of current conduction, adhesion between copper and gold, and minimization of surface corrosion. The maximum power of the air-breathing PEMFC with polycarbonate bipolar plates was $120mW/cm^2$, which was similar to that of graphite bipolar plates. Finally, the maximum power of a 12-cell stack of polycarbonate bipolar plates was $132.7mW/cm^2$, and it had an operating time of 12 h. Therefore, this was considered a suitable material for bipolar plates in PEMFCs.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.326-334
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• 2010

In this study, characterization and performance of membrane humidifier using membrane distillation was evaluated for moisture of fuel gas in the PEMFC. The data were expressed dew point. The best results show $51.19^{\circ}C$ at $60^{\circ}C$ of water temperature, $54.22^{\circ}C$ at 900 mL/min and $60.03^{\circ}C$ at 100 strands. The mass transfer modelling of membrane humidifier were able to predict humidification of fuel gases for operating PEMFC. When the membrane humidifier was applied to the 100 W stack, it showed stable voltage and power. The volume of membrane humidifier was small however, showed better performance than bubble humidifier.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.06a
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• pp.287-287
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• 2009

연료전지는 전기에너지와 열에너지를 동시에 사용 할 수 있기 때문에 에너지 효율이 높고 유해 배기물이 거의 없으므로 친환경적이다. 따라서 환경문제가 대두되고 있는 오늘날, 고효율 친환경의 연료 전지는 차세대 에너지원으로 각광받고 있다. 보일러와 계통선에서 열과 전기를 공급받는 기존방식에 비해 연료전지 코제너레이션 시스템의 경우 20%이상 에너지 절감율을 향상시킬 수 있다. 기존 10kW이하의 소용량 발전설비의 경우 대형 발전소와 같은 수준인 30%이상의 전기 효율을 기대할 수 없으나 고분자 전해질 연료전지를 적용할 경우 1kW급에서도 35%의 전기 효율을 기대할 수 있으며 열회수까지 고려할 경우 80%에 가까운 열효율을 달성할 수 있다.(4)연료전지 시스템은 연료전지 스택 이외에, 연료변환장치, 급기설비, 열 및 물관리 설비, 전력변환장치 그리고 제어 장치 등으로 구성된다. 연료전지 시스템 성능은 연료전지 스택의 성능에 가장 의존적인데 연료전지 스택의 성능은 같은 스택이라도 운전 및 제어 방법에 따라서 다양하게 변할 수 있다. 실제로 연료전지 스택 자체의 전기 변환 효율은 최대 40% 까지로 매우 높으나, 다양한 운전 조건에 따라 효율이 30~40% 수준에서 변화는 것이 현실이다. 때문에 시스템을 설계할 때에는 종합화된 시스템 측면에서의 운전까지 고려한 설계와 성능 해석이 필요하다. 그간 연료전지를 활용한 가정용 열병합 발전분야에서는 시스템 설계를 위한 시뮬레이션 기반 성능 해석에 관한 연구가 활발히 진행되어왔다. 하지만 연료전지 스택의 경우 간이화된 성능 모델식을 사용하여 이로 인한 성능 예측모델의 오차가 크게 발생하여 전체 시스템 최적화의 저해요인으로 작용하여왔다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 가정용 연료전지 열병합 발전 시스템을 자체적으로 설계 개발하였으며 이 중 연료전지 스택의 성능모델을 실험기반으로 구축하였다. 먼저 가정용 연료전지 열병합 발전 시스템의 설계는 크게 네 단계로 구분되며 이는 1) 시스템 개념 설계, 2) 연료전지 스택 설계, 3) 주변장치 설계, 4) 제어시스템 설계로 이뤄진다. 연료전지 스택의 성능 모델은 고분자연료전지의 성능에 가장 민감하게 영향을 미치는 온도 및 습도의 변화에 따른 다양한 스택 성능을 예측 가능하도록 개발하였으며 이는 간단한 이론 모델의 구조에 실험 데이터를 기반으로 모델 파라미터를 도출하는 기법으로 이뤄졌다.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
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• v.40 no.7
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• pp.563-568
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• 2016

In this study, experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of a heat pump system. A heat pump system with an air as heat source is adapted as reference. The developed system uses a plate heat exchanger an evaporator to absorb heat from a stack of fuel cell driven electric vehicles. Hence, the system functions as a water source heat pump system. The results indicated that the; power consumption increased with the rotational speed of the compressor. A system performance($COP_h$) of 2.03 at an electronic expansion valve(EEV) openings of 25% and a compressor speed of 1200 rpm was observed in the reference system. However, at the same compressor speed, the $COP_h$ of the water source heat pump system corresponded to 9.42 at an EEV openings of 75%. It was found that the water source heat pump system exhibited the highest performance at a water temperature of $50^{\circ}C$.