• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.59 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 2021

The PEM(Proton Exchange Membrane)water electrolysis uses the same PEM electrolyte membrane as the PEM fuel cell and proceeds by the same reaction but the opposite direction. The PEM fuel cell has many methods of degradation analysis since many studies have been conducted on the degradation and durability of the membrane and catalyst. We examined whether PEM fuel cell durability evaluation method can be applied to PEM electrolytic durability evaluation. During the PEM electrolytic degradation process, LSV(Linear sweep voltammetry), CV(Cyclic voltammetry), Impedance, SEM(Scanning Electron Microscope) and FT-IR(Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy) were analyzed and compared under the same conditions as the PEM fuel cell. As the PEM fuel cell, hydrogen passing through the membrane was oxidized at the Pt/C electrode, and the hydrogen permeation current density was measured to analyze the degree of degradation of the PEM membrane. Electrode degradation could be analyzed by measuring the electrode active area (ECSA) by CV under hydrogen/nitrogen flowing conditions. While supplying hydrogen and air to the Pt/C electrode and the IrO2 electrode, the impedance of each electrode was measured to evaluate the durability of the electrode and membrane.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2007.05b
• /
• pp.2255-2260
• /
• 2007

This Paper focuses on modeling and simulation to analyze the characteristic of hybrid vehicle. The system includes proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC), photovoltaic generator(PV), lead-acid battery, motor, vehicle and controller. Main electricity is produced by the PEMFC and battery to meet the requirements of a user load. When vehicle is parked in a sunny place, extra power is generated by the photovotaics and is charged in a battery for next drive. Further we evaluate usefulness of this hybrid vehicle by using ADVISOR - the advanced vehicle simulator written in the Matlab/Simulink environment. According to simulation results, the extra power obtained by photovoltaics which have been explored in nature conditions can help to reduce the electrical load of PEMFC and increase the efficiency (over 30%).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.31 no.10
• /
• pp.840-847
• /
• 2007

This Paper focuses on modeling and simulation to analyze the characteristic of hybrid vehicle. The system includes a proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC), photovoltaic generator(PV), lead-acid battery, motor, vehicle and controller. Main electricity is produced by the PEMFC and battery to meet the requirements of a user load. When vehicle is parked in a sunny place, extra power is generated by the photovotaics and is charged in a battery for next drive. Further we evaluate usefulness of this hybrid vehicle by using ADVISOR - the advanced vehicle simulator written in the Matlab/Simulink environment. According to simulation results, the extra power obtained by photovoltaics which have been explored in nature conditions can help to reduce the electrical load of PEMFC and increase the efficiency (over 21 %).

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
• /
• 2013.02a
• /
• pp.598-598
• /
• 2013

The short lifetime of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is the one of the main problems to be solved for commercializing. Especially, the weak adhesion between metal nanoparticles and supports deteriorate the performances of nanocatalysts, therefore, it is considered to be a major failure mechanism. Using force-distance spectroscopy of atomic force microscopy (AFM), we characterized the adhesion between Pt nanoparticles and carbon supports that is crucially related to the durability for membrane fuel cell (MFC) electrode. In our study, force distance curves measured with Pt coated AFM cantilever, mimicking the behavior of corresponding nanoparticles on carbon supports, leads to the adhesion between metal nanoparticles and carbon supports. We found that theadhesion between Pt and HNO3-treated carbon is enhanced by a factor of 4, compared to Pt and bare carbon support, that is consistent with the macroscopic durability test of PEMFC. The higher adhesion between Pt and HNO3-treated carbon can be explained in light of the stronger chemical interaction by C/O functional groups.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.499-504
• /
• 2009

The effect of gas diffusion layer (GDL) compression caused by different stack clamping pressures on fuel cell performance was experimentally studied in a miniature 5-cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. Three stacks with different GDL compressions, 15%, 35% and 50%, were prepared using SGL 10BC carbon fiber felt GDL and Gore 57 series MEA. The PEMFC stack performance and the stack stability were enhanced with increasing stack clamping pressure resulting in the best performance and stability for the stack with higher GDL compressions up to 50%. The excellent performance of the stack with high GDL compression was mainly due to the reduced contact resistance between GDL and bipolar plate in the stack, while reduced gas permeability of the excessively compressed GDL in the stack hardly affected the stack performance. The high stack clamping pressure also resulted in excessive GDL compression under the rib areas of bipolar plate and large GDL intrusion into the channels of the plate, which reduced the by-pass flow in the channels and increase gas pressure drop in the stack. It seems that these phenomena in the highly compressed stack enhance the water management in the stack and lead to the high stack stability.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2009

Hydrogen production by the reaction of aluminum alloys and NaOH solution was studied for an automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) application. In our experiment conditions($30{\sim}75^{\circ}C$, NaOH $0.5{\sim}5M$), passivation of aluminum was not occurred. Higher rate of hydrogen production was observed at the reaction with Al alloys that contain impurities. With an increase in reaction temperature, hydrogen production rate by an increase in NaOH concentration increased much. When hydrogen was fed into the anode without filtering, PEMFC cell performance decreased 35% by ionic contamination such as $Na^+$ on the membrane and electrode. Thus, filtering of produced hydrogen is necessary for PEMFC operation.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.59 no.3
• /
• pp.339-344
• /
• 2021

In order to improve the PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) durability, it is important to accurately evaluate the durability of the membrane in a short time. Recently, DOE (Department of Energy) reported a protocol that combines the chemical and mechanical durability of membranes to evaluate them effectively. This protocol applies chemical/mechanical deterioration to the membrane by repeating wet/dry while OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) holding. The problem of this protocol is that it is highly affected by electrode degradation due to change cycles in OCV and that the evaluation time is long. By using oxygen instead of air as the cathode gas while leaving the other conditions of the DOE protocol as it is, the durability evaluation time could be reduced from 408 hours to 144 hours. By reducing the number of voltage change cycles to 1/3, the electrode degradation due to the voltage change cycle was reduced to 1/12 when oxygen was used compared to air at the end, thereby enabling more accurate evaluation of polymer membrane durability.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.28 no.7
• /
• pp.877-884
• /
• 2004

In this paper, structural analysis is performed to investigate the deformation of porous media in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Structural deformation of air plate of the fuel cell causes the change in configuration and cross sectional area of the channel. The distributions of mass flow rate and pressure are major factors to decide the performance of a PEMFC. These factors are affected by channel configuration of air plate. Two kinds of numerical air plate models are suggested for flow analyses. Deformed porous media and undeformed porous media are considered for the two models. The Numerical flow analysis results between deformed porous media and undeformed porous media have some discrepancy in pressure distribution. The pressure and velocity distribution under a working condition are numerically calculated to predict the performance of the air plates. Pressure and velocity distributions are compared for two models. It is shown that structural deformation makes difference in flow analysis results.

• Advances in Energy Research
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.203-211
• /
• 2022

The aim of this paper is to analyze the performance of commercial fuel cell (rated capacity 1000W) with the help of resistive load and output power variation with change in H₂ flow rate and calculate the maximum power point (MPP) of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) while changing AC and DC load respectively. The factors influencing the output power of a fuel cell are hydrogen flow rate, cell temperature, and membrane water content. The results show that when the H₂ flow rate is changed from 11, 13, and 15 Lpm, MPP is increased from lower to higher flow rate. The power of the fuel cell is increased at the rate of 29% by increasing the flow rate from 11 to 15 lpm. This study will allow small-scale industries and residential buildings (in remote or inaccessible areas) to characterize the performance of PEMFC. Furthermore, fuel cell helps in reducing emission in the environment compared to fossil fuels. Also, fuel cells are ecofriendly as well as cost effective and can be the best alternative way to convert energy.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.225-230
• /
• 2006

This study investigates drying condition when a small fan is added to a operating the free-breathing proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with dry $H_2$ and Air. Polarization tests were conducted on PEMFCs at cell temperatures between 30 and $50^{\circ}C$ under dry operation. In the results, the cell performance strongly depended on the cell temperature and the cathode gas stoichiometric flow rates. The cell performance increases as cell temperature decreases from 50 to $30^{\circ}C$. In the domain where the stoichiometry of air is quite large, reduction of the concentration overpotential compensated the increased internal resistance due to drying. The maximum performance was obtained at the small air flow rate beyond which flooding occurs. This indicates that the fan should be operated in the stoichiometry domain with a well designed cell structure to avoid flooding.