• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.368-373
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• 2004

To improve the conventional cathode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) from the viewpoint of low cell power density, expensive fabrication process and high operation temperature, the anode-supported tubular solid oxide fuel cell was investigated. The anode tube of Ni-8mol% $Y_2$O$_3$-stabilized $ZrO_2$ (8YSZ) was manufactured by extrusion process, and, the electrolyte of 8YSZ and the multi-layered cathode of $LaSrMnO_3$(LSM)ILSM-YSZ composite/$LaSrCoFeO_3$ were coated on the surface of the anode tube by slurry dip coating process, subsequently. Their cell performances were examined under gases of humidified hydrogen with 3% water and air. In the thermal cycle condition of heating and cooling rates with $3.33^{\circ}C$/min, the anode-supported tubular cell showed an excellent resistance as compared with the electrolyte-supported planar cell. The optimum hydrogen flow rate was evaluated and the air preheating increased the cell performance due to the increased gas temperature inside the cell. In long-term stability test, the single cell indicated a stable performance of 300 mA/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 0.85 V for 255 hr.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3440-3445
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• 2007

For proton exchange membrane fuel cell, it is very important to design the flow channel on separation plate optimally to maximize the current density at same electrochemical reaction surface and reduce the concentration polarization occurred at high current density. In this paper, three dimensional computation model including anode and cathode domain together was developed to examine effects of flow patterns and operation conditions such as humidity and operating temperature on performance of fuel cell. Results show that voltage at counter flow condition is higher than that at coflow condition in parallel and interdigitated flow pattern. And fuel cell with interdigitated flow pattern which has better mass transport by convection flow through gas diffusion layer has higher performance than with parallel flow pattern but its pressure drop is increased such that the trade off between performance and pressure drop should be considered for selection of flow pattern of fuel cell.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.422-431
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• 2007

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) is very interesting power source due to high power density, simple construction and operation at low temperature. But it has problems such as high cost, improvement of performance and effect of temperature. These problems can be approached to be solved by using mathematical models which are useful tools for analysis and optimization of fuel cell performance and for heat and water management. In this paper, the present work is to develop an electrochemical model to examine the electrochemical process inside PEM fuel cell. A complete set of considerations of mass, momentum, species and charge is developed and solved numerically with proper account of electrochemical kinetics. When depth of gas channel becomes thinner, diffusion of reactant makes well into gas diffusion layer(GDL) and the performance increases. Although at low current region there is little voltage difference between experimental data of PEM fuel cell and numerical data. When the porosity size of gas diffusion layer for PEM fuel cell is bigger, oxygen diffusion occurs well and oxygen mass fraction appears high in catalyst layer.

• 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.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.120-124
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• 2011

The design of an air compressor-driving quadratic linear actuator in a fuel cell BOP system is studied using orthogonal techniques. The approach utilizes an orthogonal array for design of 'experiments', i.e. the scheme for numerical simulations using a finite element method. Eco-friendly energy is increasingly important due to the depletion of fossil fuels and environmental pollution. Among the new energy sources, fuel cell is spotlighted as renewable energy because it produces few dusts. The air compressor performance is directly related to the efficiency of the fuel cell BOP system has high power consumption. In this paper, an optimized technique using an orthogonal matrix is applied to the design problem to improve the performance of quadratic linear actuator.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.53-56
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• 2004

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) is considered as a candidate technology for applications in stationary, transportation as well as electronic power generation purposes. To develop a high performance direct methanol fuel cell(DMFC), a competent electrolyte membrane is needed. The electrolyte membrane should be durable and methanol crossover must be low. One of the approaches to increase the stability of generally used polymer electrolyte membranes such as Nafion against swelling or thermal degradation is to bond it with an inorganic material physically or chemically. In Noritake Company, we have developed a novel method of reinforcing the polymer electrolyte matrix with inorganic fibers. Methanol crossover values measured were significantly lower than the original polymer electrolyte membranes. These fiber reinforced electrolyte membranes (FREM) were used for DMFC study and stable power output values as high 160 mW/$\textrm{cm}^2$ were measured. The details of the characteristics of the membranes as well as I-V data of fuel cell stacks are detailed in the paper.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.172-177
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• 2006

This paper presents the sliding mode observer of an induction motor for the fuel cell electric vehicles. The exact rotor flux estimation of the induction motor is important for achieving the best performance from the fuel cell electric vehicle system. However, the flux estimator of the induction motor control is highly sensitive to the voltage sensor output characteristics and system parameter variation influenced by external factors. In order to eliminate these problems, this paper investigates the electric vehicle performance due to parameter variation of the induction motor. A new method to estimate the fuel cell electric vehicle system is proposed based on the sliding mode observer.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.66 no.6
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• pp.968-974
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• 2017

In this paper, modeling of brushless DC motor (BLDC) driving system for platform screen door control applied fuel cell power generation system has been proposed. At first the system configuration and operational principle of the developed fuel cell simulator has been investigated and the design of BLDC motor driving system is studied and the overall performance and dynamics of the proposed system could be effectively examined by simulation. PSIM simulation program is implemented to verify the performance and compatibility of the fuel cell power generation system and BLDC motor control system modeling.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.34-42
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• 2012

Gas diffusion layers (GDLs) of carbon composite type in polymer electrolyte fuel cells were prepared by simple and cheap manufacturing process. To obtain the carbon composite GDLs, carbon black with polymer binder was mixed in solvent, rolled to make sheet, and finally heat-treated at $340^{\circ}C$. The performance of fuel cell using composite GDLs was changed by PTFE content. The physical properties of composite GDLs for pore, conductivity and air permeability were analyzed to compare with the variation of fuel cell performance. The conductivity of composite GDLs was very similar to carbon paper as commercial GDL but pore properties and air flux were considerably different. The porosity, PTFE content and conductivity for composite GDLs did not have an influence on the cell performance much. The increase of pore diameter and air flux led to enhance cell performance.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 2018

This study evaluated the performance characteristics of varied electrolyte species and amounts in a molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). Coin-type MCFCs were used at the condition of $650^{\circ}C$ and 1 atm. In order to measure the effects of varied electrolyte species and amounts, electrolytes of $(Li+K)_2CO_3$ and $(Li+Na)_2CO_3$ were selected and the amounts of 1.5 g, 2.0 g, 3.0 g, and 4.0 g were used. Insignificant performance differences were observed in the cell using different electrolytes, but the cell performance was sensitive to the amount of the electrolyte used. The pore-filling ratio (PFR), a ratio of pore filling in the components by the liquid carbonate electrolytes, was used to determine the optimum performance range. Consequently, 77% PFR demonstrated the optimum performance for both electrolytes. Thus, the MCFC had a permissible but narrow optimum performance range. The remaining amounts of electrolyte in the cells were determined using the weight reduction ratio (WRR) method after several hours of cell operation. The WRR used the relationship between the initial loaded amount of electrolyte and weight reduction of components in 10 wt% acetic acid. The relationships were linear and identical between the two electrolyte species.