• Title/Summary/Keyword: Fuel cell optimization

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CFD-based Flow Simulation Study of Fuel Cell Protective Gas (CFD를 활용한 연료전지 모듈 보호가스 유동 연구)

  • Kwon, Kiwook;Lim, Jongkoo;Park, Jongcheol;Shin, Hyun Khil
    • 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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    • 2011.11a
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    • pp.86.1-86.1
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    • 2011
  • To improve the safety, the fuel cell operate inside a pressurized enclosure which contains inert gas so called protective gas. The protective gas not only prevents the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, but also removes the water in the vessel with the condenser. This study presents the details of the flow optimization in order to reduce the humidity in the fuel cell housing. The protective gas flow in the fuel cell container is studied by Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) simulations. This study focuses on optimizing the geometry of an protective gas circulation system in fuel cell module to reduce the humidity in the vessel. CFD analysis was carried out for an existing model to understand the flow behavior through the fuel cell system. Based on existing model CFD results, geometrical changes like inlet placement, optimization of outlet size, modification of fuel cell module system are carried out, to improve the flow characteristics. The CFD analysis of the optimized model is again carried out and the results show good improvement in protective gas flow behavior.

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A Study on the Optimization of Water Balance Control in the Intermittent PEM Fuel Cell

  • Choi, Kwang-Hwan;Yoon, Jung-In;Son, Chang-Hyo;Hong, Boo-Pyo;Bakhtiar, Agung
    • Journal of Power System Engineering
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    • v.17 no.5
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    • pp.64-68
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    • 2013
  • One of the water management goals in PEM fuel cell is to avoid flooding and drying in the membrane, therefore the air humidification process is required. In order to increase water removal out of the membrane, the water management system may require the dehumidification process and it also requires a large space for application, moreover the process time is slow. In conformity with this fact, this present study proposes an advanced dynamic fuel cell water management which can be an intermittent optimization control using air flow rate instead of the air humidity as an variable in the optimization process. The results of this study have shown that the membrane flooding and drying can be avoided after being assisted by air velocity controlling method.

An Application of Optimization method for Efficient Operation of Micro Grid (마이크로그리드의 효율적 운영을 위한 최적화기법의 응용)

  • Kim, Kyu-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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    • v.26 no.12
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    • pp.50-55
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    • 2012
  • This paper presents an application of optimization method for efficient operation in micro grid. For operational efficiency, the objective function in a diesel generator consists of the fuel cost function similar to the cost functions used for the conventional fossil-fuel generating plants. The wind turbine generator is modeled by the characteristics of variable output. The cost function of fuel cell plant considers the efficiency of fuel cell. Particle swarm optimization(PSO) and sequential quadratic programming(SQP) are used for solving the problem of microgrid system operation. Also, from the results this paper presents the way to attend power markets which can buy and sell power from upper lever grids by connecting a various generation resources to micro grid.

Study on Optimization of Operation in household Fuel Cell System (가정용 연료전지 시스템의 요금 분석을 통한 최적 운전 방법 검토)

  • Park, Deaheum;Cha, Kwangseok;Jo, Hokyoo;Jung, Younguan
    • Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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    • v.23 no.6
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    • pp.598-603
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    • 2012
  • Despite the high efficiency and eco-friendly of Household Fuel Cell System it has hardly obtained popularity mainly due to its high prices. In order to encourage use of the system prices and operational expenses need to become economical. In this study, optimization through simulation was conducted to find out the optimal operational condition. As a result of simulation the system is operated with DSS operation from 5 O'clock to 19 O'clock for 14 hours at the constant output of 0.4kW to maximize reduction of energy rate. this DSS operation condition can reduce 200,000 won of energy rates in 35 pyoung apartment for a year. And, we can know that starting time of DSS operation don't effect to energy rates through the simulation. Furthermore, the household fuel cell system with the rated output of 1kW should be reduced to 0.4 - 0.6kW which can promote installation of household Fuel Cell System. Now, the household fuel cell system don't have been used widely due to economical efficiency. but, in the near future, Fuel Cell will be used to household by decrease of LNG price caused by development of shale gas.

Design Process of Light-weighted Fuel Cell Vehicle Body Frame (경량 연료전지 차체프레임 설계 프로세스)

  • Kim, Ki-Tae;Kang, Sung-Jong
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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    • v.18 no.6
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    • pp.114-121
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    • 2010
  • This paper presents a design process of light-weighted fuel cell vehicle (FCV) frame to meet design target of natural frequency in early design stage. At first, using validated FE model for the current design, thickness optimization was carried out. Next. optimization process, comprised of beam model size optimization, shell model design and shell model thickness optimization, was investigated for two frame types. In addition, in order to ensure hydrogen tanks safety against rear impact load, structural collapse characteristics was estimated for the rear frame model finally produced from the previous optimization process and, with the target of equal collapse characteristics to the current design model, structural modification with small weight increase was studied through static structural collapse analyses. The same attempt was applied to the front side frame. The results explain that the proposed process enables to design light-weighted frames with high structural performance in early stage.

Optimization of Condensate Water Drain Logic Depending on the Characteristics of Drain Valve in FPS of Fuel Cell Vehicle and Development of Anode Water Management Strategy to Achieve High Fuel Efficiency and Operational Stability (연료전지 자동차 내 수소 공급 시스템에서 드레인 밸브 특성에 따른 드레인 로직 최적화 및 연비와 운전안정성을 고려한 물 관리 전략 개발)

  • AHN, DEUKKUEN;LEE, HYUNJAE;SHIM, HYOSUB;KIM, DAEJONG
    • Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.155-162
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    • 2016
  • A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) produces only water at cathode by an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. The generated water is transported across the membrane from the cathode to the anode. The transported water collected in water-trap and drained to the cathode within the humidifier outlet. If the condensate water is not being drained at the appropriate time, condensate water in the anode can cause the performance degradation or fuel efficiency degradation of fuel cell by the anode flooding or unnecessary hydrogen discharge. In this study, we proposed an optimization method of condensate water drain logic for the water drain performance and the water drain algorithm as considered the condensate water generating speed prep emergency case. In conclusion, we developed the water management strategy of fuel processing system (FPS) as securing fuel efficiency and operating stability.

The Stress Distribution Analysis of PEMFC GDL using FEM (유한요소법을 이용한 고분자전해질연료전지 기체확산층의 응력분포 연구)

  • Kim, Chulhyun;Sohn, Youngjun;Park, Gugon;Kim, Minjin;Lee, Jonguk;Kim, Changsoo;Choi, Yusong;Cho, Sungbaek
    • Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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    • v.23 no.5
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    • pp.468-475
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    • 2012
  • A proper stacking force and assembly are important to the performance of fuel cell. Improper assembly pressure may lead to leakage of fuels and high interfacial contact resistance, excessive assembly pressure may result in damage to the gas diffusion layer and other components. The pressure distribution of gas diffusion layer is important to make interfacial contact resistance less for stack performance. To analyze the influence of design parameter factors for pressure distribution, and to optimize stack design, DOE (Design of Experiment) was used for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack pressure test. As commonly known, the higher clamping force improves the fuel cell stack performance. However, non-uniformity of stress distribution is also increased. It shows that optimization between clamping force and stress distribution is needed for well designed structure of fuel cell stack. In this study, stack design optimization method is suggested by using FEM (Finite Element Methode) and DOE for light-weighted fuel cell stack.

Optimization of PEM Fuel Cell System Using a RSM (반응표면기법에 의한 고분자전해질형 연료전지 시스템의 최적화)

  • Xuan, Dongji;Kim, Jin-Wan;Nan, Yanghai;Ning, Qian;Kim, Young-Bae
    • Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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    • 2008.11b
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    • pp.3140-3141
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    • 2008
  • The output power efficiency of the fuel cell system depends on the demanded current, stack temperature, air excess ratio, hydrogen excess ratio and inlet air humidity. Thus, it is necessary to determine the optimal operation condition for maximum power efficiency. In this paper, we developed a dynamic model of fuel cell system which contains mass flow model, diffusivity gas layer model, membrane hydration and electrochemistry model. In order to determine the maximum output power and minimum use of hydrogen in a certain power condition, response surface methodology (RSM) optimization based on the proposed PEMFC stack model is presented. The results provide an effective method to optimize the operation condition under varied situations.

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The Simulation of PEMFC System Performance for Automotive Application (1) (작동조건을 고려한 자동차용 PEM 연료전지 시스템 성능 시뮬레이션 (1))

  • Bang, Jung-Hwan;Kim, Han-Sang;Lee, Dong-Hun;Min, Kyoung-Doug;Kim, Min-Soo;Cho, Young-Man
    • Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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    • 2003.11a
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    • pp.460-465
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    • 2003
  • The modeling of PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell system consisting of fuel cell stack and BOP (Balance of Plant) is presented in this paper. The effects of temperature, pressure (air, hydrogen), and humidity on the fuel cell system performance were mainly investigated using thermo-dynamical and electro-chemical equations. To understand the power distribution characteristics of fuel cell system, the effects of operating temperature and air pressure on maximum power and system power were also demonstrated. Through this study, we can get the basic insight into the fuel cell stack and BOP component sizing and it can be used effectively for the optimization of the practical fuel cell systems in purpose.

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The effect of PEMFC stack performance at air supply condition (공기공급 조건이 스택성능에 미치는 영향)

  • Park, Chang-Kwon;Oh, Byeong-Soo
    • Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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    • v.19 no.3
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    • pp.232-238
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    • 2008
  • Research has been proceeded on fuel cell which is fueled by hydrogen. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is promising power source due to high power density, simple construction and operation at low temperature. But it has problems such as high cost, temperature dependent performance. These problems could be solved by experiment which is useful for analysis and optimization of fuel cell performance and heat management. In this paper, when hydrogen flows constantly at the stoichiometry of ${\xi}=1.6$, the performance of the fuel cell stack was increased and the voltage difference between each cells was decreased according to the increase of air stoichiometry by 2.0, 2.5, 3.0. Therefore, the control of air flow rate in the same gas channel is important to get higher performance. Purpose of this research is to expect operation temperature, flow rate, performance and mass transportation through experiment and to help actual manufacture of PEM fuel cell stack.