• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.1092-1100
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• 2010

Bacteria, fungi, and protozoa inhabiting the rumen, the largest chamber of the ruminants' stomach, release large quantities of hydrogen during the fermentation of carbohydrates. The hydrogen is used by coexisting methanogens to produce methane in energy-yielding processes. This work shows, for the first time, a fundamental possibility of using a hydrogen-rich fermentation gas produced by selected rumen ciliates to feed a low-temperature hydrogen fuel cell. A biohydrogen fuel cell (BHFC) was constructed consisting of (i) a bioreactor, in which a hydrogen-rich gas was produced from glucose by rumen ciliates, mainly of the Isotrichidae family, deprived of intra- and extracellular bacteria, methanogens, and fungi; and (ii) a chemical fuel cell of the polymer-electrolyte type (PEFC). The fuel cell was used as a tester of the technical applicability of the fermentation gas produced by the rumen ciliates for power generation. The average estimated hydrogen yield was ca. 1.15 mol $H_2$ per mole of fermented glucose. The BHFC performance was equal to the performance of the PEFC running on pure hydrogen. No fuel cell poisoning effects were detected. A maximum power density of $1.66\;kW/m^2$ (PEFC geometric area) was obtained at room temperature. The maximum volumetric power density was $128\;W/m^3$ but the coulombic efficiency was only ca. 3.8%. The configuration of the bioreactor limited the continuous operation time of this BHFC to ca. 14 h.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.110-112
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• 2006

Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) are commonly prepared in the research laboratory by spraying, screen-printing and brushing catalyst slurry onto membrane or other support material like carbon paper or polyimide film in a batch style. These hand applications of the catalyst slurry are painstaking process with respect to precision of catalyst loading and reproducibility. It has been generally mentioned that the adoption of continuous process is very helpful to develop the reliable product. In the present work, we report the results of using continuous type coater with doctor-blade to coat catalyst slurry for preparing the MEA catalyst layers In a faster and highly reproducible fashion. We show that while expectedly faster than batch style, the machine coater requires the use of slurry of appropriate composition and a properly selected transfer decal material in order to achieve superior MEA plat lnw loading reproducibility. To make highly viscous catalyst slurry that is imperative for using coater, we use 40wt.% Nafion solution and minimize the content of organic solvent. And the choice of proper high surface area catalyst is important in the viewpoint of making well-dispersed slurry. After catalyst coating onto the support material, we transferred the catalyst layer to both sides of Nafion membrane by hot-pressing In this case, the degree of transfer was Influenced by hot-pressing condition including temperature, pressure, and time. To compare the transferring ability, we compared so many films and detaching papers. And among the support, polyethylene terephthalate(PET) film shows the prominent result.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.196-202
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• 2007

The performance characteristics of the polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCS) were investigated under various humidification conditions at steady-state and transient conditions. The PEFC studied in this study was characterized by I-V curves in the potentiostatic mode and EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy). The I-V curves representing steady-state performance were obtained from OCV to 0.25 V, and the dynamic performance responses were obtained at some voltages. The effects of anodic external humidification were measured by varying relative humidity of hydrogen from 20% to 100% while dry air was supplied in the cathode. At the high voltage region, the performance became higher with the increase of the temperature, while at the low voltage region, the performance decreased with the increase of temperature. The EIS showed that ohmic losses were larger at the dry condition of membrane and the effects of mass transport losses increased remarkably when the external and self-humidification were high. The dynamic responses were also monitored by changing the voltage of the PEFC instantly. As the temperature increased, the current reached steady-state earlier. The self-humidification with the generated water delayed the stabilization of the current except for low voltage conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 2010.04a
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• pp.196-196
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• 2010

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.11a
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• pp.80.2-80.2
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• 2010

The development of high temperature-proton exchange fuel cell (HT-PEFC) is a key in solving the problem of carbon monoxide poisoning of the platinum at anode as well as water management in PEFCs operated below $90^{\circ}C$. In order to overcome these main issues, PEFCs must be operated at high temperature above $120^{\circ}C$. Ionic liquids are available for HT-PEFC due to exhibiting non-volatility and thermal stability. Ionic liquids are however leached out from polymeric matrix resulting in the increase of gas permeability. In this study, we have prepared and characterized the composite membranes with the ionic liquids consisting of 1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-3-butyl imidazolium chloride immobilized by the cross-linkers in pore-filling membrane to prevent to be leached out from the membrane. We confirmed that cross-linked ionic liquids were not leached out from the composite membranes through the various characteristic analyses. It was also verified that the prepared membranes are thermally stable from the result of TG analysis. The pore-filling membranes with the immobilized ionic liquids have a high proton conductivity over $10^{-2}$ S/cm at high temperature (> $120^{\circ}C$).

• JOURNAL OF ELECTRICAL WORLD
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• s.320
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• pp.66-71
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• 2003

연료전지는 환경에 친화적인 새로운 에너지기기로서, 업무$\cdot$가정용 전원, 자동차 등의 이동전원, 전자기기용 전원 등 많은 분야에 보급이 기대되고 있다. 그 중에서도 고체고분자 연료전지(이하 ''PEFC''라 함)는, 전해질이 고체로 취급하기 쉽고, 더욱이 동작온도가 실온(室溫)에 가까우며 값이 싸고 소용량화$\cdot$운전유연성이 기대되어, 산$\cdot$학$\cdot$연에서 개발이 활발히 추진되고 있다. PEFC 전원의 실용화는, 가정용으로 대표되는 소용랑 코제너레이션 전원으로 먼저 시작될 것으로 생각된다. 구체적으로는, 1kW 출력수준의 코제너레이션 전원 겸 급탕기(給湯器)를 가정에 설치하여 배열(背熱)을 유효 이용함으로써 연료비와 $CO_2$ 배출량을 경감하는 것이다. 여기서는, 이러한 가정용 전원에 대하여 우선 첫째로 전원 운용에 관련된 계산$\cdot$검토를 실시하고 연료비/$CO_2$ 배출량의 삭감효과를 조사했다. 그 결과에 의하면, 예상했던 대로 도입효과가 크게 기대되는 한편, 그 효과는 연료단가와 운전 상황에 따라서도 크게 좌우된다. 어떠한 환경에서도 확실하게 메리트가 있도록 전원의 가일층의 성능향상이 요망된다. 그 외에, 전원의 용량과 부분부하에 대한 검토가 중요하다. 또한, 시스템 시험에서는, 1kW 전원을 시험$\cdot$제작하여 성능시험, 코스트분석을 실시했다. 그 결과 배열회수와 전지/직류교환부의 성능으로 시장도입시의 목표에 가까운 것을 알 수 있었다. 한편 저(低)코스트화에 관해서는, 시스템을 간소하게 하는 기술을 개발중에 있다. 연료전지기술은 앞으로의 사회에 매우 중요하며, 보다 좋은 사회의 실현을 위해 개발에 계속 진력해 나갈 것이다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.260-263
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• 2005

The effects of internal manifold designs the reactant feed-stream in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs) is studied to figure out mass flow-distribution patterns over an entire fuel cell stack domain. Reactants flows are modeled either laminar or turbulent depending on regions and the open channels in the bipolar plates are simulated by porous media where permeability should be pre-determined for computational analysis. In this work, numerical models for reactant feed-stream in the PEFC manifolds are classified into two major flow patterns: Z-shape and U-shape. Several types of manifold geometries are analyzed to find the optimal manifold configurations. The effect of heat generation in PEFC on the flow distribution is also investigated applying a simplified heat transfer model in the stack level (i.e. multi-cell electrochemical power-generation unit). This modeling technique is well suited for many large scale problems and this scheme can be used not only to account for the manifold flow pattern but also to obtain information on the optimal design and operation of a PEMC system.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.454-459
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• 2009

In order to commercialize Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC), the cathode catalyst such as Platinum supported Carbon (Pt/C) need to have a high activity of Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR). In this study, the 20% Pt/C was synthesized using the chemical reduction method while the crystallinity of Platinum (Pt) particles were controlled under heat treatment conditions. The activity of synthesized Pt catalysts was evaluated using electrochemical measurement. Compared with the $i_{ORR}$ at 0.8 V of 20% Pt/C heat-treated at $500^{\circ}C$ and the 20% Pt/C that were not heated and commercial 20% Pt/C, the $i_{ORR}$ at 0.8 V of 20% Pt/C heattreated at $500^{\circ}C$ was 9.5 and 1.7 times higher than those of the 20% Pt/C and commercial 20% Pt/C that were not heated. It was considered that the crystallinity and particle size affect the ORR activity of the Pt/C catalysts.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.101-106
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• 1999

고분자 전해질 연료전지(PEFC)는 백금 촉매를 이용하여 낮은 온도에서 화학에너지를 전기에너지로 전환시키는 시스템으로써 자동차 등의 이동용 전원으로 적합한 시스템이다. 그러나 고분자 전해질 연료전지가 실용화되기 위해서는 고가인 백금 촉매 사용량의 감소 등 제작비용 절감 문제, 전지 자체의 성능향상 등의 문제가 해결되어야 한다.(중략)

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.9
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• pp.688-698
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• 2009

Using the multi-dimensional, multi-phase, nonisothermal Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell (PEFC) model presented in Part I, the effects of land/channel flow-field on temperature and liquid saturation distributions inside PEFCs are investigated in Part II. The focus is placed on exploring the coupled water transport and heat transfer phenomena within the nonisothermal and two-phase zone existing in the diffusion media (DM) of PEFCs. Numerical simulations are performed varying the land and channel widths and simulation results reveal that the water profile and temperature rise inside PEFCs are considerably altered by changing the land and channel widths, which indicates that oxygen supply and heat removal from the channel to the land regions and liquid water removal from the land toward the gas channels are key factors in determining the water and temperature distributions inside PEFCs. In addition, the adverse liquid saturation gradient along the thru-plane direction is predicted near the land regions by the numerical model, which is due to the vapor-phase diffusion driven by the temperature gradient in the nonisothermal two-phase DM where water evaporates at the hotter catalyst layer, diffuses as a vapor form and then condenses on the cooler land region. Therefore, the vapor phase diffusion exacerbates DM flooding near the land region, while it alleviates DM flooding near the gas channel.