• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.331-339
• /
• 2021

This study presents a novel way to enhance uniformity of the gas flow inside the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), which is critically important to fuel cell performance, by using dimples. A pattern of dimple, which works as a flow distributor/collector, is designed at the inlet and outlet section of a straight channel gas separator. Size of the dimples and the gap between them were changed to optimize the flow uniformity, and any change in size or gap is considered as one design. The results show that some dimple patterns significantly enhance the uniformity compared to baseline, about 4%, while the others slightly reduce it, about 1%. Besides, the dimple pattern also affects to the pressure drop in the flow channel, however the pressure drop in all cases are negligible (less than 26.4 Pa).

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.222-230
• /
• 2004

In this paper, a 3㎾ fuel cell generation system with an active fuel cell simulator has been proposed. The developed fuel cell simulator generates the actual voltage and current output characteristics of the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), so that the overall performance and the dynamics of the proposed system could be effectively examined and tested. In This paper, at first, the system configuration and operational principle of the developed fuel cell simulator has been investigated and the design process of the fuel cell generation system is explained in detail. In addition, the validity of the proposed system has been verified lly the informative simulation and experimental result

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.470-476
• /
• 2021

In the near future, with the urgent requirement of environmental protection, hydrogen based energy system is essential. However, at the present time, most of the hydrogen is produced by reforming, which still produces carbon dioxide. This study proposes a high-power electrolytic hydrogen production system based on solid oxide electrolysis cell with no harmful emissions to the environment. Besides that, the parametric study and optimization are also carried to examine the effect of individual parameter and their combination on system efficiency. The result shows that the increase in steam conversion rate and hydrogen molar fraction in incoming stream reduces system efficiency because of the fuel heater power increase. Besides, the higher Faraday efficiency does not always result a higher system efficiency.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.324-330
• /
• 2021

In recent years, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based cogeneration system has received more and more attention from energy researchers because beside electricity, the system also meets the residential thermal demand. However, the low-quality heat exited from PEMFC should be increased temperature before direct use or storage. This study proposes a method to utilize the heat exhausted from a 10 kW PEMFC by coupling a heat pump. Two different configuration using heat pump and a reference layout with heater are analyzed in term of thermal and total efficiency. The system coefficient of performance (COP) increases from 0.87 in layout with heaters to 1.26 and 1.29 in configuration with heat pump and cascade heat pump, respectively. Lastly, based on system performance result, another study in economics point of view is proposed.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.62 no.5
• /
• pp.596-603
• /
• 2013

The increase of distributed power generation is closely related to interest in microgird including renuable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) systems and fuel cell. By the growing interest of microgrid all over the world, many studies on microgrid operation are being carried out. Especially operation technique which is core technology of microgrid is to supply heat and electricity energy simultaneously. Optimal microgrid scheduling can be established by considering CHP (Combined Heat and Power) generation because it produce both heat and electricity energy and its total efficiency is high. For this reason, CHP generation in microgrid is being spotlighted. In the near future, wide application of microgrid is also anticipated. This paper proposes a mathematical model for optimal operation of microgrid considering both heat and power. To validate the proposed model, the case study is performed and its results are analyzed.

• The Journal of the Institute of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2022

In addition to the stack that directly generates electricity by the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, the fuel cell power generation system has a reformer that generates hydrogen from various fuels such as methanol and natural gas. It also consists of a power converter that converts the DC voltage generated in the stack into a stable AC voltage. The fuel cell output of such a system is direct current, and in order to be used at home, an inverter device that converts it into alternating current through a power converter is required. In addition, a DC-DC step-up converter is used to boost the fuel cell voltage to about 30~70V, which is the inverter operating voltage, to about 380V. The DC-DC step-up converter is a DC voltage variable device that exists between the fuel cell output and the inverter. Accordingly, since a constant output voltage of the converter is generated in response to a change in the output voltage of the fuel cell, the inverter can receive constant power regardless of the voltage change of the fuel cell. Therefore, in this paper, we discuss the detailed hardware design of the full-bridge converter, which is the main power source of the inverter that receives the fuel cell output voltage (30~70V) as an input and is applied to the grid among the members of the fuel cell power generation system.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.348-358
• /
• 2003

According to Electricity Acceleration Law of Rural Area recently, the needs for replacement of a small scale diesel power generation facility which supplied electricity to 10-50 households Remote Islands has been revealed due to high operating and maintenance cost of Diesel Power Generation. Optimization of electric power system for Small Remote Islands must be made considering the economics, reliability and stability as power sources and estimation of total construction cost of those power stations. For its purpose, an assessment of power generation options such as Photovoltaic, Fuel cell, Wind-hybrid was implemented, economic evaluation of power supply shows the Photovoltaic, Fuel Cell for few household's islands and Diesel, Wind-hybrid for more inhabited islands. Power supplied by Diesel shows the best response to increasing electric demand and system reliability even with its lower economic value. Those who are in charge of power planning have to pay attention to system reliability, stability and operating characteristics of candidate's power supply besides its economics.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.21-30
• /
• 2008

The fuel cell generation convert fuel source, and gas directly to electricity in an electro-chemical process. Unlike traditional and conventional turbine engines, the process of fuel cell generation do not burn the fuel and run pistons or shafts, and it has not revolutionary machine, so have fewer efficiency losses, low emissions and no noisy moving parts. A high power density allows fuel cells to be relatively compact source of electric power, beneficial in application with space constraints. In this system, the fuel cell itself is nearly small-sized by other components of the system such as the fuel reformer and power inverter. So, the fuel cell energy's stationary fuel cells produce reliable electrical power for commercial and industrial companies as well as utilities. In this paper, a fuel cell system has been modeled using PSCAD/EMTDC to analyze its electric signals and characteristics. Also the power quality of the fuel cell system has been evaluated and the problems which can be occurred during its operation have been studied by modeling it more detailed. Particularly, we have placed great importance on its power quality and signal characteristics when it is connected with a power grid.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.643-659
• /
• 2022

For the economic analysis of fuel cells, levelized cost of electricity was calculated according to the type, capacity, and annual production of the fuel cells. The cost of every component was calculated through the system component breakdown. The direct cost of the system included stack cost, component cost, assembly, test, and conditioning cost, and profit markup cost were added. The effect of capacity and annual production was analyzed by fuel cell type. Sensitivity analysis was performed according to stack life, capital cost, project period, and fuel cost. As a result, it was derived how much the economic efficiency of the fuel cell improves as the capacity increases and the annual production increases.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.40-47
• /
• 2024

Ammonia is drawing attention as carbon free fuel due to its ease of storage and transportation compared to hydrogen. This study suggests ammonia fueled solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system with electrochemical hydrogen compressor (EHC)-based recirculation. Performance of electrochemical hydrogen pump is based on the experimental data under varying hydrogen and nitrogen concentration. As a result, the suggested system shows 62.04% net electrical efficiency. The efficiency is 10.33% point higher compared to simple standalone SOFC system (51.71%), but 0.02% point lower compared to blower-based recirculation system (62.06%). Further improvement in the EHC-based SOFC recirculation system can be achieved with EHC performance improvement.