• International Journal of Safety
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-4
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• 2011

The fuel cell is one of the green energy receiving a lot of attention. Among the fuel cells, it is generally referred to SOFC(solid oxide fuel cell) which is made up composites of a solid. SOFC has excellent merits in the side of environment and energy. However because of the high operating temperature, it has economic loss by the using of expensive materials and problems of structural instability by thermal stresses. Therefore, this study aims to the effect of analysis by the FEMLAB. The results have deformations and the maximum stresses from the variation of the thickness of vulnerability spots. The deformation shows expansion as 0.82% and the stress ${\sigma}_{xx}$ is 392MPa in electrolyte and -56.31MPa in anode. When increasing or decreasing the thickness to 50% of the reference thickness about the electrolyte which is vulnerable spots.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.541-546
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• 2008

A coolant operating condition in al fuel cell stack was an important factor to determine the temperature distribution which affected the fuel cell performance and relative humidity. In this study, the fuel cell performance was evaluated as a function of the coolant flow rate with the range of $0.1{\sim}0.8$ liter/min cell and the coolant inlet temperature of $20{\sim}82^{\circ}C$. The cell temperature increased with increasing the coolant inlet temperature and with decreasing the coolant flow rate. The coolant inlet temperature and flow rate to maintain the better performance of the fuel cell were in the range of $45{\sim}60^{\circ}C$ and $0.2{\sim}0.4$ liter/min cell, respectively. The experimental results showed that the optimal heat removal rate from the stack by coolant was $0.4{\sim}0.6W/cm^2$ cell.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.49-56
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• 2023

The Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operates at ambient temperature as a low-temperature fuel cell. During its operation, voltage losses arise due to factors such as operating conditions and material properties, effecting its performance. Computational simulations of fuel cells can be categorized into 1D simulation and CFD, chosen based on their specific application purposes. In this study, we carried out an analysis validation using 1D geometry and compared its performance with the results from 2D geometry analysis. CFD allows for the representation of pressure, velocity distribution, and fuel mass fraction according to the geometry, enabling the analysis of current density. However, the 1D simulation, simplifying governing equations to reduce time cost, failed to accurately account for fuel distribution and changes in fuel concentration due to fuel cell operations. As a result, it showed unrealistic results in the cell voltage region dominated by concentration loss compared to CFD.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.363-371
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• 2022

In this study, the operation characteristics of the internal reforming type molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) were studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis according to the steam to carbon ratio (S/C ratio), operating temperature, and gas utilization. From the simulation results, the distribution of gas composition due to the electrochemical reaction and the reforming reaction was predicted. The internal reforming type showed a lower temperature difference than the external reforming type MCFC. As the operating temperature decreased, less hydrogen was produced and the performance of the fuel cell also decreased. As the gas utilization rate decreased, more gas was injected into the same reaction area, and thus the performance of the fuel cell increased.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.132-139
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• 2020

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are among one of the promising technologies for efficient and clean energy. SOFCs offer several advantages over other types of fuel cells under relatively high temperatures (600℃ to 800℃). However, the thermal behavior of SOFC stacks at high operating temperatures is a serious issue in SOFC development because it can be associated with detrimental thermal stresses on the life span of the stacks. The thermal behavior of SOFC stacks can be influenced by operating or material properties. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the effects of the thermal conductivity of each component (anode, cathode, and electrolyte) on the thermal behavior of samarium-doped ceria-based SOFCs at intermediate temperatures. Computational fluid dynamics is used to simulate SOFC operation at 600℃. The temperature distributions and gradients of a single cell at 0.7 V under different thermal conductivity values are analyzed and discussed to determine their relationship. Simulations reveal that the influence of thermal conductivity is more remarkable for the anode and electrolyte than for the cathode. Increasing the thermal conductivity of the anode by 50% results in a 23% drop in the maximum thermal gradients. The results for the electrolyte are subtle, with a ~67% reduction in thermal conductivity that only results in an 8% reduction in the maximum temperature gradient. The effect of thermal conductivity on temperature gradient is important because it can be used to predict thermal stress generation.

• 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.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.38-57
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• 2021

The different weight ratios of Pd to Pt, i.e., 16:4, 10:10, 4:16 in Pd-Pt/C and Pd (20 wt. %) /C electrocatalysts with low metal loading were synthesized for glycerol electrooxidation in an air breathing microfluidic fuel cell (MFC). The cell performance on Pd-Pt (16:4)/C anode electrocatalyst was found best among all the electrocatalysts tested. The single cell when tested at a temperature of 35℃ using Pd-Pt (16:4)/C, showed maximum open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.70 V and maximum power density of 2.77 mW/㎠ at a current density of 7.71 mA/㎠. The power density increased 1.45 times when cell temperature was raised from 35℃ to 75℃. The maximum OCV of 0.78 V and the maximum power density of 4.03 mW/㎠ at a current density of 10.47 mA/㎠ were observed at the temperature of 75℃. The results of CV substantiate the single cell performance for various operating parameters.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2003.08a
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• pp.219-224
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• 2003

An analysis procedure for the MCFC channel flow has been developed to predict the fuel cell performance. As for the electrochemical reaction, among several chemical reaction models, one that fits the data best is adopted after a comprehensive comparative study. The Wavier-Stokes, energy, and species equations are solved to obtain the velocity, temperature and concentration fields for a specified average current density. The procedure is iterative as the local current density, or the reaction rate, is allowed to vary with the gas composition. A series of calculations are then carried out to examine the effects of gas flow rate, gas composition, gas usage rate, inlet gas temperature, and average current density on the fuel cell performance. The fuel cell characteristics, such as the temperature, current density distributions, and the concentration fields, for various operating conditions are presented and discussed.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.885-890
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• 2006

This study presents analysis results for the hybrid system combining solid oxide fuel cell and gas turbine. Two different system layouts(an ambient pressure system and pressurized system) are considered and their design performance are comparatively investigated taking into account critical design factor, the most critical parameter such as turbine inlet temperature, gas turbine pressure ratio, temperature difference at the fuel cell and fuel cell operating temperature are considered as design constraints. Performance variations according to system layout and design parameters are examined in energetic view point.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.153-156
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• 2009

Low temperature methane steam reforming to produce $H_2$ for fuel cells has been calculated thermodynamically considering both heat loss of the reformer and unreacted $H_2$ in fuel cell stack. According to the thermodynamic equilibrium analysis, it is possible to operate methane steam reforming at low temperatures. A scheme for the low temperature methane steam reforming to produce $H_2$ for fuel cells by burning both unconverted $CH_4$ and $H_2$ to supply the heat for steam methane reforming has been proposed. The calculated value of the heat balance temperature is strongly dependent upon the amount of unreacted $H_2$ and heat loss of the reformer. If unreacted $H_2$ increases, less methane is required because unreacted $H_2$ can be burned to supply the heat. As a consequence, it is suitable to increase the reaction temperature for getting higher $CH_4$ conversion and more $H_2$ for fuel cell stack. If heat loss increases from the reformer, it is necessary to supply more heat for the endothermic methane steam reforming reaction from burning unconverted $CH_4$, resulting in decreasing the reforming temperature. Experimentally, it has been confirmed that low temperature methane steam reforming is possible with stable activity.