• 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.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 1999

The spreading fire of very small floating particles after they are ignited is fast and t therefore dangerous. The research on this area has been limited to experiments and global simulations which treat them as dusts or gaseous fuel with certain concentration well m mixed with air. This research attempted micro-scale analysis of ignition of those particles modeling them as liquid droplets. For the beginning, the in-line array of fuel droplets is modeled by two-dimensional, unsteady conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy and species transport in the gas phase and an unsteady energy equation in the liquid phase. They are solved numerically in a generalized non-orthogonal coordinate. The single step chemical reaction with reaction rate controlled by Arrhenius’ law is assumed to a assess chemical reaction numerically. The calculated results show the variation of temperature and the concentration profile with time during evaporation and ignition process. Surrounding oxygen starts to mix with evaporating fuel vapor from the droplet. When the ignition condition is met, the exothermic reactions of the premixed gas initiate a and burn intensely. The maximum temperature position gradually approaches the droplet surface and maximum temperature increases rapidly following the ignition. The fuel and oxygen concentration distributions have minimum points near the peak temperature position. Therefore the moment of ignition seems to have a premixed-flame aspect. After this very short transient period minimum points are observed in the oxygen and fuel d distributions and the diffusion flame is established. The distance between droplets is an important parameter. Starting from far-away apart, when the distance between droplets decreases, the ignition-delay time decreases meaning faster ignition. When they are close and after the ignition, the maximum temperature moves away from the center line of the in-line array. It means that the oxygen at the center line is consumed rapidly and further supply is blocked by the flame. The study helped the understanding of the ignition of d droplet array and opened the possibility of further research.