• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.527-535
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• 2017

Heat management is one of the most critical issues in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) installed inside the fuel cell power pack of a fuel cell battery hybrid UPS. If the heat generated by the chemical reaction in the fuel cell is not rapidly removed, the durability and performance of the fuel cell may be affected, which may shorten its lifetime. Therefore, the objective of this study is to select and propose a proper cooling method for the fuel cells used in the fuel cell power pack of a UPS. In order to find the most appropriate cooling method, the various design factors affecting the cooling performance were studied. The numerical analysis was performed by a commercial program, i.e., COMSOL Multiphysics. Firstly, the surface temperature of the 1 kW class fuel cell stack with the cooling fans placed at the top was compared with the one with the cooling fans placed at the bottom. Various rotation speeds of the cooling fan, viz. 2,500, 3,000, 3,500, and 4,000 RPM, were tested to determine the proper cooling fan speed. In addition, the influence of the inhaled air flow rate was investigated by changing the porous area of the grille, which is the entrance of the air flowing from the outside to the inside of the power pack. As a result, it was found that for the operating conditions of the 1 kW class PEMFC to be acceptable, the cooling fan was required to have a minimum rotating speed of 3500 RPM to maintain the fuel cell surface temperature within an acceptable range. The results of this study can be effectively applied to the development of thermal management technology for the fuel cells inside the fuel cell power pack of a UPS.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.883-891
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• 2017

For the preferential oxidation of CO contained in the fuel of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), CuO-$CeO_2$ mixed oxide catalysts were prepared by the sol-gel and co-precipitation methods to replace noble metal catalysts. In the catalyst preparation by the sol-gel method, Cu/Ce ratio and hydrolysis ratio were changed. The catalytic activity of the prepared catalysts was compared with the catalytic activity of the noble metal catalyst($Pt/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$). Among the catalysts prepared with different Cu/Ce ratios, the catalyst whose Cu/Ce ratio was 4:16 showed the highest CO conversion (90%) and selectivity (60%) at $150^{\circ}C$. As the hydrolysis ratio was increased in the catalyst preparation, surface area increased, and catalytic activity also increased. The highest CO conversions with the CuO-$CeO_2$ mixed oxide catalyst prepared by the co-precipitation method and the noble metal catalyst (1wt% $Pt/{\gamma}-Al_2O_3$) were 82 and 81% at $150^{\circ}C$, respectively, whereas the highest CO conversion with the CuO-$CeO_2$ mixed oxide catalyst prepared by the sol-gel method was 90% at the same temperature. This indicates that the catalyst prepared by the sol-gel method shows higher catalytic activity than the catalysts prepared by the co-precipitation method and the noble metal catalyst. From the CO-TPD experiment, it was found that the catalyst having CO desorption peak at a lower temperature ($140^{\circ}C$) revealed higher catalytic activity.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.664-670
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• 2021

Stainless steel was applied as bipolar plate (BP) of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to high mechanical strength, electrical conductivity, and good machinability. However, stainless steel was corroded and increased contact resistance resulting PEMFC performance decrease. Although the corrosion resistance could be improved by surface treatment such as noble metal coating, there is a disadvantage of cost increase. The stainless steel corrosion behavior and passive layer influence on PEMFC performance should be studied to improve durability and economics of metal bipolar plate. In this study, SUS316L bipolar plate of 25 cm² active area was manufactured, and experiments were conducted for corrosion behavior at an anode and cathode. The influence of SUS316L BP corrosion on fuel cell performance was measured using the polarization curve, impedance, and contact resistance. The metal ion concentration in drained water was analyzed during fuel cell operation with SUS316L BP. It was confirmed that the corrosion occurs more severely at the anode than at the cathode for SUS316L BP. The contact resistance was increased due to the passivation of SUS316L during fuel cell operation, and metal ions continuously dissolved even after the passive layer formation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2024

The durability of the catalyst support has a significant effect on the durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The accelerated durability evaluation of the catalyst support is performed at a high voltage (1.0 to 1.5 V), and the catalyst and ionomer binder in the catalyst layer are also deteriorated, hindering the evaluation of the durability of the support. The existing protocol (DOE protocol) was improved to find conditions in which the support, which is a durability evaluation target, deteriorates further. A protocol (MDOE) was developed in which the relative humidity was lowered by 35% and the number of voltage changes was reduced. After repeating the 1.0 ↔ 1.5 V voltage change cycle, the catalyst mass activitiy (MA), electrochemical active area (ECSA), electrical double layer capacity (DLC), Pt dissolution and particle growth were analyzed. Reaching 40% reduction in mass activity, the MDOE protocol took only 500 cycles, reducing the number of voltage changes compared to the DOE method and increasing the degradation of the carbon support by 50% compared to the DOE protocol.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.656-662
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• 2007

Fuel reformer using plasma and shift reactor for CO oxidation were designed and manufactured as $H_2$ supply device to operate a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). $H_2$ selectivity was increased by non-thermal plasma reformer using GlidArc discharge with Ni catalyst simultaneously. Shift reactor was consisted of steam generator, low temperature shifter, high temperature shifter and preferential oxidation reactor. Parametric screening studies of fuel reformer were conducted, in which there were the variations of the catalyst temperature, gas component ratio, total gas ratio and input power. and parametric screening studies of shift reactor were conducted, in which there were the variations of the air flow rate, stema flow rate and temperature. When the $O_2/C$ ratio was 0.64, total gas flow rate was 14.2 l/min, catalytic reactor temperature was $672^{\circ}C$ and input power 1.1 kJ/L, the production of $H_2$ was maximized 41.1%. And $CH_4$ conversion rate, $H_2$ yield and reformer energy density were 88.7%, 54% and 35.2% respectively. When the $O_2/C$ ratio was 0.3 in the PrOx reactor, steam flow ratio was 2.8 in the HTS, and temperature were 475, 314, 260, $235^{\circ}C$ in the HTS, LTS, PrOx, the conversion of CO was optimized conditions of shift reactor using simulated reformate gas. Preheat time of the reactor using plasma was 30 min, component of reformed gas from shift reactor were $H_2$ 38%, CO<10 ppm, $N_2$ 36%, $CO_2$ 21% and $CH_4$ 4%.