• 대한기계학회논문집B
• /
• 제34권10호
• /
• pp.885-891
• /
• 2010

고분자 전해질 연료전지(PEMFC)의 열관리는 성능 향상과 내구성 측면에서 중요한 문제이다. 일반적으로 냉각수 순환 유로를 가진 냉각판이 여러 개의 단전지 사이에 삽입되어 PEMFC 내부에서 발생하는 반응열을 외부로 배출한다. 본 연구에서는 개선된 병렬 사형유로(MPSFF)를 향상된 냉각성능을 가진 냉각판 유로형상으로 제안하고, 이를 전산유체역학(CFD) 해석을 통하여 평가하였다. 비교를 위하여 냉각수 유로로 일반적으로 사용되는 사형유로 및 병렬형유로의 냉각성능에 대한 계산도 수행하였다. CFD 결과는 개선된 병렬 사형유로가 냉각판 표면에서의 온도의 비균일도를 상당히 감소시키고, 따라서 PEMFC의 내구성과 성능을 향상시킬 수 있음을 보여주었다.

• 한국정밀공학회지
• /
• 제25권1호
• /
• pp.115-121
• /
• 2008

In this paper, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) with serpentine flow channel is presented. A steady state, single phase and isothermal numerical model has been established to investigate the influence of the GDL (Gas Diffusion Layer) parameters. The GDL is made of a porous material such as carbon cloth, carbon paper or metal wire mesh. For the simplicity, the GDL is modeled as a block of material having numerous pathways through which gaseous reactants and liquid water can pass. The porosity, permeability and thickness of the GDL, which are employed in the model parameters significantly affect the PEMFC performance at the high current region.

• 전기화학회지
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.301-305
• /
• 2007

연료전지 운전 중에 스택(stack) 분리판 접착부위나 다른 경로로 부동액이 누설될 경우에는 화학적 반응에 영향을 주어 성능의 저하가 발생할 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 부동액이 누설되었을 경우의 성능 거동을 관찰하는 실험을 수행하였다. $400mA/cm^2$ 전류밀도 조건에서 마이크로 펌프를 이용하여 부동액을 주입하였으며 상대습도 100%/100%와 수소와 공기의 양론비는 1.5/2.0으로 고정하여 실험을 수행하였다. 3 cell stack을 이용하여 부동액을 주입한 후 정전류 회복 실험을 수행한 결과 cathode측에 부동액을 주입하였을 경우에는 성능이 회복되었고 anode측에 부동액을 주입하였을 경우에는 성능이 회복되기 어려운 것으로 나타났다. Anode측이 회복되지 못하는 이유로는 ethylene glycol의 산화반응에서 발생하는 불순물에 의한 피독 현상과 GDL과 3상 계면에 ethylene glycol이 물리적으로 흡착하였을 경우 반응에 필요한 연료 공급의 방해로 인한 성능 저하를 예상할 수 있다. 성능 저하에 영향을 주는 두 가지 변수를 확인하는 실험을 수행하였다. 회복 실험은 anode측에 water pump를 이용하여 질소 기체와 물을 동시에 공급하는 방법으로 실험을 수행하였고, 1시간 간격으로 성능 회복 유무를 확인하였다. 성능 평가는 polarization curve, cyclic voltammetry(CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)를 사용하였으며, 정량분석은 gas chromatography를 이용하여 분석하였다. 부동액 주입 후 성능은 크게 저하되었고 정전류 회복 실험에서도 성능 회복은 미미하게 나타났다. 이 후 물 주입회복 실험을 수행하였고 회복 실험을 수행한 2시간 이후에는 93% 이상의 회복을 관찰할 수 있었다.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
• /
• 제25권5호
• /
• pp.491-499
• /
• 2014

It is important to accurately measure and control the relative humidity of humidified gas entering a PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell stack because the level of humidification strongly affects the performance and durability of the stack. Humidity measurement devices can be used to directly measure the relative humidity, but they cost much to be equipped and occupy spaces in a fuel cell system. We present soft sensors for predicting the relative humidity without actual humidity measuring devices. By combining FIR (finite impulse response) model with PLS (partial least square) and SVM (support vector machine) regression models, DPLS (dynamic PLS) and DSVM (dynamic SVM) soft sensors were developed to correctly estimate the relative humidity of humidified gases exiting a planar-type membrane humidifier. The DSVM soft sensor showed a better prediction performance than the DPLS one because it is able to capture nonlinear correlations between the relative humidity and the input data of the soft sensors. Without actual humidity sensors, the soft sensors presented in this work can be used to monitor and control the humidity in operation of PEM fuel cell systems.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국신재생에너지학회 2009년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
• /
• pp.378-378
• /
• 2009

The ionic liquid-based sulfonated hydrocarbon composite membranes was prepared for use in anhydrous high temperature-polymer electrolyte fuel cells (HT-PEFCs). Ionic liquid behaves like water in the composite membranes under anhydrous condition. However the composite membranes show a low conductivity and high gas permeability as the content of ionic liquid increases due to its high viscosity and content of ionic liquid, respectively. Hence, in order to enhance the proton conductivity and to reduce the gas permeability of the composite membranes with low content of ionic liquids, the acid containing a common ion of ionic liquid was added to the composite membranes. The characterization of composite membranes was carried out using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and impedance spectroscopy. As a result, the composite membranes containing acid showed higher proton conductivity than those with no acid under the un-humidified condition due to a decrease in viscosity. In addition, the proton conductivity of composite membranes increased with increasing mole concentration of acid.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
• /
• 제28권5호
• /
• pp.465-470
• /
• 2017

Sulfonated fluorinated block copolymers having diphenyl units were mixed with the sulfonated cationic conductive polymers at an optimum mixing ratio to form hybrid membranes for fuel cells and their characteristics were studied. 2D and 3D AFM topology analysis confirmed that the number of hydrophilic units in the hybrid membrane was improved. Through the FE-SEM, the microstructure of the hybrid membrane implied hydrogen bonding and pi-pi interactions, and EDAX confirmed carbon, oxygen, sulfur, and fluorine. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the hybrid membrane was thermally stable and the hydrophilicity of the hybrid membrane was increased by the contact angle of water droplets. As a result, it was confirmed that the cation conductivity increased by a factor of 1.8 times as the number of acidic domains in the hybrid film increased.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 한국신재생에너지학회 2010년도 추계학술대회 초록집
• /
• pp.86.2-86.2
• /
• 2010

In order to improve polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) durability, the durability of membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), in which the electrochemical reactions actually occur, is one of the vital issues. Many articles have dealt with catalyst layer degradation of the durability-related factors on MEAs in relation to loss of catalyst surface area caused by agglomeration, dissolution, migration, formation of metal complexes and oxides, and/or instability of the carbon support. Degradation of catalyst layer during long-term operation includes cracking or delamination of the layer which result either from change in the catalyst microstructure or loss of electronic or ionic contact with the active surface, can result in apparent activity loss in the catalyst layer. Membrane degradation of the durability-related factors on MEAs can be caused by mechanical or thermal stress resulting in formation of pinholes and tears and/or by chemical attack of hydrogen peroxide radicals formed during the electrochemical reactions. All of these effects, the mechanical damage of membrane and degradation of catalyst layers are more facilitated by uneven stress or improper MEA fabrication process. In order to improve the PEMFC durability, therefore, it is most important to minimize the uneven stress or improper MEA fabrication process in the course of the fabrication of MEA. We analyzed the effects of the MEA fabrication condition on the PEMFC durability with MEA produced using CCM (catalyst coated membrane) method. This paper also investigated the effects of MEA fabrication condition on the PEMFC durability by adding additional treatment process, hot pressing and pressing, on the MEA produced using CCM method.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• 제16권6호
• /
• pp.549-554
• /
• 2008

Proton conducting crosslinked membranes were prepared using polymer blends of polystyrene-b-poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate)-b-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer at 28:21:51 wt% was synthesized sequentially using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). FT-IR spectroscopy showed that after thermal ($120^{\circ}C$, 2 h) and chemical (sulfosuccinic acid, SA) treatments of the membranes, the middle PHEA block of the triblock copolymer was crosslinked with PVA through an esterification reaction between the -OH group of the membrane and the -COOH group of SA. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) decreased from 1.56 to 0.61 meq/g with increasing amount of PVA. Therefore, the proton conductivity at room temperature decreased from 0.044 to 0.018 S/cm. However, the introduction of PVA resulted in a decrease in water uptake from 87.0 to 44.3%, providing good mechanical properties applicable to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of fuel cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the membrane was microphase-separated with a nanometer range with good connectivity of the $SO_3H$ ionic aggregates. The power density of a single $H_2/O_2$ fuel cell system using the membrane with 50 wt% PVA was $230\;mW/cm^2$ at $70^{\circ}C$ with a relative humidity of 100%. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also showed a decrease in the thermal stability of the membranes with increasing PVA concentration.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
• /
• 제14권1호
• /
• pp.35-45
• /
• 2003

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells(PEFC) have been considered to be a suitable candidate for residential, portable and mobile applications, due to their high efficiency and power density, even at low operating temperature. KIER developed a 5kW class PEFC system for residential application and operated the system for over 1,000 hours. To develop a 5kW PEFC system, performance of a cell was improved through successive tests of single cell of small and large area. Fabrication of three 2,5 kW class stacks, design and fabrication of natural gas reformer, design of auxiliary equipments such as DC/DC converter, DC/AC inverter and humidifying units were carried out along with integration of components, operation and evaluation of total system. During the development period from 1999 to 2001, MEA(membrane electrode assembly) fabrication technologies, design and fabrication technologies for separators, stacking technologies and so on were developed, thereby providing basis for developing stacks of higher efficiency and power density in the future. Experience of development of natural gas reformer opened possibilities to use various kinds of fuels. Main results obtained from the development of a 5kW class PEFC system for residential application are summarized.

• 전기화학회지
• /
• 제5권2호
• /
• pp.68-73
• /
• 2002

상용 고분자 전해질인 Nafion 115 및 Nafion 117막 위에 do magnetron sputtering방법으로 Pd박막을 다양한 두께로 증착한 다음, 개질된 고분자 전해질 막의 morphology, proton 전도도(conductivity), 메탄을 투과도(permeability)를 측정하였으며, membrane and electrode assemblies(MEA)를 구성하여 DMFC 단위전지 성능을 측정하였다. Pd 박막은 Nafion막이 지니고 있는 단점인 메탄을 crossover에 대한 barrier로서 작용하였지만, 동시에 Nafion막의 고유 특성인 proton전도도의 감소를 가져왔다. Pd박막에 의하여 개질된 Nafion막의 메탄올에 대한 투과도와 proton전도도는 Nafion 막 상에 증착된 Pd 박막의 두께가 증가할수록 직선적으로 감소하는 경향을 나타냈다 개질된 Nafon 막을 사용하여 제작한 direct methanol fuel cell(DMFC)단위전지의 성능은 전체적으로 약간 저하되었다.