• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.29-35
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• 2011

This paper describes an internal flow characteristics of a fuel pressurized blower, used for 1kW domestic fuel cell system. To analyze the flow field inside the diaphragm cavity, compressible unsteady numerical simulation is introduced. SST model with scalable wall function is employed to estimate the eddy viscosity. Moving mesh system is applied to the numerical analysis for describing the volume change of a diaphragm cavity in time. Throughout numerical simulation with the modeling of the inlet and outlet valves in a diaphragm cavity, unsteady nature of an internal flow is successfully analyzed. Force variations on the lower plate of a diaphragm cavity are evaluated in time. It is found that the driving force at the suction stage of a diaphragm cavity is more necessary than that at the discharging stage.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.226-240
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• 2023

This paper provides an overview of the trends and future directions in the development of anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) using hydrocarbons as fuel, with the aim of enabling a decentralized energy supply. Hydrocarbons (such as natural gas and biogas) offer promising alternatives to traditional energy sources, as their use in SOFCs can help meet the growing demands for energy. We cover several types of materials, including perovskite structures, high-entropy alloys, proton-conducting ceramic materials, anode on-cell catalyst reforming layers, and anode functional layers. In addition, we review the performance and long-term stability of cells based on these anode materials and assess their potential for commercial manufacturing processes. Finally, we present a model for enhancing the applicability of fuel cell-based power generation systems to assist in the realization of the H₂ economy as the best practice for enabling distributed energy. Overall, this study highlights the potential of SOFCs to make significant progress toward a sustainable and efficient energy future.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 2011

Performance changes of an anode-supported tubular SOFC including current collectors are analyzed at different current collecting methods using numerical simulation. From the two dimensional numerical model of the solid oxide fuel cell with nickel felts as anodic current collectors and silver wires as cathodic ones, the performance curves and the distributions of temperature, concentration, current density are obtained. Also, the voltage loss of the cell is divided into three parts: activation loss, concentration loss and ohmic loss. The results show that the performance change of the cell is dominantly influenced by the ohmic loss. Although the temperature and concentration distributions are different, the total activation loss and concentration loss are nearly same. And the ohmic loss is divided into each parts of the cell components. The ohmic loss of the anodic current collectorreaches about 60~80% of the cell's total ohmic loss. Therefore, the reduction of the ohmic loss of the anodic current collector is very important for stack power enhancement. It is also recommended that the load should be connected to the both ends of the anodic current collector.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.323-329
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• 2012

A thermal management system of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is taken charge of controlling the temperature of fuel cell stack by rejection of electrochemically reacted heat. Two major components of thermal management system are heat exchanger and pump which determines required amount of heat. Since the performance and durability of PEMFC system is sensitive to the operating temperature and temperature distribution inside the stack, it is necessary to control the thermal management system properly under guidance of operating strategy. The control study of the thermal management system is able to be boosted up with hardware in the loop simulation which directly connects the plant simulation with real hardware components. In this study, the plant simulation of fuel cell stack has been developed and the simulation model is connected with virtual data acquisition system. And HIL simulator has been developed to control the coolant supply system for the study of PEMFC thermal management system. The virtual data acquisition system and the HIL simulator are developed under LabVIEWTM Platform and the Simulation interface toolkit integrates the fuel cell plant simulator with the virtual DAQ display and HIL simulator.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.613-637
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• 2018

Fuel cell power plant which has advantages as a distributed generation is influenced by high cost of investment and uncertainty of electricity price. This study suggests the model of real options which considers the irreversibility of investment in the fuel cell plant and the uncertainty of electricity price. Most models of real options assume the geometric Brownian motion for convenience, but this study develops the model for the feasibility analysis considering the mean reverting process of electricity price, with the closed form solution on the value of investment option. The result of the empirical analysis considering the data related to the fuel cell generation with the scale of 20MW and the domestic RPS circumstance represents that the investment is feasible without the uncertainty, and is not feasible with the uncertainty. This result implies that the political support as well as the improvement of profit system including revenue and cost are necessary for the activation of the fuel cell power plant.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.33-36
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• 2008

The transient behavior of a passive air breathing direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) operated on vapor-feeding mode is studied in this paper. It generally takes 30 minutes after starting for the cell response to come to its steady-state and the response is sometimes unstable. A mathematical dynamic one-dimensional model for simulating transient response of the DMFC is presented. In this model a DMFC is decomposed into its subsystems using lumped model and divided into five layers, namely the anodic diffusion layer, the anodic catalyst layer, the proton exchange membrane (PEM), the cathodic catalyst layer and the cathodic diffusion layer. All layers are considered to have finite thickness, and within every one of them a set of differential-algebraic governing equations are given to represent multi-components mass balance, such as methanol, water, oxygen and carbon dioxide, charge balance, the electrochemical reaction and mass transport phenomena. A one-dimensional, isothermal and mass transport model is developed that captures the coupling between water generation and transport, oxygen consumption and natural convection. The single cell is supplied by pure methanol vapor from a methanol reservoir at the anode, and the oxygen is supplied via natural air-breathing at the cathode. The water is not supplied from external source because the cell uses the water created at the cathode using water back diffusion through nafion membrane. As a result of simulation strong effects of water transport were found out. The model analysis provides several conclusions. The performance drop after peak point is caused by insufficiency of water at the anode. The excess water at the cathode makes performance recovery impossible. The undesired crossover of the reactant methanol through the PEM causes overpotential at the cathode and limits the feeding methanol concentration.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.11
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• pp.735-742
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• 2017

In this study, an effective model-based sensor fault detection methodology that can detect and isolate PEM temperature sensors fault is introduced. In fuel cell vehicle operation process, the stack temperature affects durability of a fuel cell. Thus, it is important for fault algorithm to detect the fault signals. The major objective of sensor fault detection is to guarantee the healthy operations of the fuel cell system and to prevent the stack from high temperature and low temperature. For the residual implementation, parity equation based on the state space is used to detect the sensors fault as stack temperature and coolant inlet temperature, and residual is compared with the healthy temperature signals. Then the residuals are evaluated by various fault scenarios that detect the presence of the sensor fault. In the result, the designed in this study fault algorithm can detect the fault signal.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.194-201
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• 2011

The air flow supplied to a fuel cell system is one of the most significant factors in determining fuel efficiency. The conventional method of controlling the air flow is to fix the oxygen supply at an estimated constant rate for optimal efficiency. However, the actual optimal point can deviated from the pre-set value due to temperature, load conditions and so on. In this paper, the maximum efficiency point tracking (MEPT) algorithm is proposed for finding the optimal air supply rate in real time to maximize the net-power generation of fuel cell systems. The fixed step MEPT algorithm has slow dynamics, thus it affects the overall efficiency. As a result, the variable step MEPT algorithm is proposed to compensate for this problem instead of a fixed one. The complete small signal model of a PEM Fuel cell system is developed to perform a stability analysis and to present a design guideline. For a design example, a 1kW PEM fuel cell system with a DSP 56F807 (Motorola Inc) was built and tested using the proposed MEPT algorithm. This control algorithm is very effective for a soft current change load like a grid connected system or a hybrid electric vehicle system with a secondary energy source.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 2023

This study shows the summary of the economic performance of excess electricity conversion to hydrogen as well as methane and returned conversion to electricity using a fuel cell. The methane production process has been examined in a previous study. Here, this study focuses on the conversion of methane to electricity. As a part of this study, capital expenditure (CAPEX) is estimated under various sized plants (0.3, 3, 9, and 30 MW). The study shows a method for economic optimization of electricity generation using a fuel cell. The CAPEX and operating expenditure (OPEX) as well as the feed cost are used to calculate the discounted cash flow. Then the levelized cost of returned electricity (LCORE) is estimated from the discounted cash flow. This study found the LCORE value was ¢10.2/kWh electricity when a 9 MW electricity generating fuel cell was used. A methane production plant size of 1,500 Nm³/hr, a methane production cost of $11.47/mcf, a storage cost of $1/mcf, and a fuel cell efficiency of 54% were used as a baseline. A sensitivity analysis was performed by varying the storage cost, fuel cell efficiency, and excess electricity cost by ±20%, and fuel cell efficiency was found as the most dominating parameter in terms of the LCORE sensitivity. Therefore, for the best cost-performance, fuel cell manufacturing and efficiency need to be carefully evaluated. This study provides a general guideline for cost performance comparison with LCORE.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.63-66
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• 2008

This study presents 0-dimensional model for solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs). The physics of the cell and the simplifying assumptions are presented, and only hydrogen participates in the electrochemical reaction. The electrical potential is predicted using this model. The Butler-Volmer equation is used to describe the activation polarization and the exchange current density is changed according to the partial pressure of reactants and the temperature. The electrical conductivities of electrodes and an electrolyte are calculated for the ohmic polarization. Material characteristics and temperature affect those factors. Analysis of concentration polarization based on transport of gaseous species through porous electrodes is incorporated in this model. Both binary diffusion and Knudsen diffusion are considered as the diffusion mechanism. For validation, simulation results at this work are compared with our experimental results and numerical results by other researchers.