• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.373-385
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• 2013

To obtain higher power efficiency of Residential Power Generation system(RPG), it is needed to operate system on optimized stoichiometric ratios of fuel and air. Stoichiometric ratios of fuel/air are closely related to efficiency of stack, reformer and power consumption of Balance Of Plant(BOP). In this paper, optimizing stoichiometric ratios of fuel/air are conducted through systematic experiments and modeling. Based on fundamental principles and experimental data, constraints are chosen. By implementing these optimum values of stoichiometric ratios, power efficiency of the system could be maximized.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.529-545
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• 2013

Strong restrictions on emissions from marine power plants (particularly $SO_x$, $NO_x$) will probably be adopted in the near future. In this paper, a combined solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and gas turbine fuelled by natural gas is proposed as an attractive option to limit the environmental impact of the marine sector. It includes a study of a heat-recovery system for 18 MW SOFC fuelled by natural gas, to provide the electric power demand onboard commercial vessels. Feasible heat-recovery systems are investigated, taking into account different operating conditions of the combined system. Two types of SOFC are considered, tubular and planar SOFCs, operated with either natural gas or hydrogen fuels. This paper includes a detailed thermodynamic analysis for the combined system. Mass and energy balances are performed, not only for the whole plant but also for each individual component, in order to evaluate the thermal efficiency of the combined cycle. In addition, the effect of using natural gas as a fuel on the fuel cell voltage and performance is investigated. It is found that a high overall efficiency approaching 70% may be achieved with an optimum configuration using SOFC system under pressure. The hybrid system would also reduce emissions, fuel consumption, and improve the total system efficiency.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.646-652
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• 2022

The dead-end anode (DEA) system is a method that closes the anode outlet and supplies fuel by pressure. The DEA method could improve fuel usage and power efficiency through system simplification. However, flooding occurs due to water and nitrogen back diffusion from the cathode to the anode during the DEA operation. Flooding is a cause of decreased fuel cell performance and electrode degradation. Therefore, tthe structure and components of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) should be optimized to prevent anode flooding during DEA operation. In this study, the effect of a porous flow field with metal foam on fuel cell performance and fuel efficiency improvement was investigated in the DEA system. As a result, fuel cell performance and purge interval were improved by effective water management with a porous flow field at the cathode, and it was confirmed that cathode flow field structure affects water back-diffusion. On the other hand, the effect of the porous flow field at the anode on fuel cell performance was insignificant. Purge interval was affected by metal foam properties and shown stable performance with large cell size metal foam in the DEA system.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.551-560
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• 2011

This paper proposes a grid-tied power conditioning system for the fuel cell power generation, which consists of a 2-stage DC-DC converter and a 3-phase PWM inverter. The 2-stage DC-DC converter boosts the fuel cell stack voltage of 26-48V up to 400V, using a hard-switching boost converter and a high-frequency unregulated LLC resonant converter. The operation of the proposed power conditioning system was verified through simulations with PSCAD/EMTDC software. Based on the simulation results, a laboratory experimental set-up was built with a 1.2kW PEM fuel-cell stack to verify the feasibility of hardware implementation. The developed power conditioning system shows a high efficiency of 91%, which is a very positive result for the commercialization.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.60 no.3
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• pp.146-154
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• 2023

Efforts have been made to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from ships by limiting the energy efficiency index, and net zero CO₂ emission was proposed recently. The most ideal measure to achieve zero emission ship is electrification, and fuel cells are considered as a practical power source of the electrified propulsion system. The electric efficiency in the electrochemical reaction of fuel cells can be achieved up to 60% practically. The remaining energy is converted to heat energy but most of them are dissipated by cooling. In the author's previous research, a hybrid propulsion system utilizing not only electricity but also heat was introduced by combining electric motor and steam turbine. In this article, long term efficiency is evaluated for the introduced hybrid propulsion system by considering a virtual 24,000 TEU class container carrier model. To reflect a more practical operating condition, the actual navigation data of a similar real ship in the real world were collected from automatic identification system data and applied. From the result, the overall efficiency of the hybrid propulsion system is expected to be higher than a conventional electric propulsion fuel cell ship by 30%.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.863-869
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• 2001

A systematic study of microbial fuel cells comprised of alkalophilic Bacillus sp. B-31 has been carried out under various operating conditions. A significant amount of electricity was generated when redox mediators were used. Among the phenothiazine-type redox dyes tested, azure A was found to be the most effective both in maintaining a high cell voltage and for the long-term operation. The maximum efficiency was and for the long-term operation. The maximum efficiency was obtained at ca. $50^{\circ}C$ giving an open circuit voltage of 0.7V. A small change in temperature did not significantly affect the cell performance, but a rapid decrease in performance was observed below $20^{\circ}C$ and above $70^{\circ}C$. It was noticeable that fuel cell efficiency and discharge pattern depended strongly on the carbon source used in the initial culture medium. Regardless of the initial carbon sources, only glucose and trehalose were utilized as substrates. Galactose, however, was not substantially utilized except when galactose was used in the initial medium. Glucose, in particular, showed $87\%$ coulombic efficiency, which was the highest value ever reported, when Bacillus sp. was cultured in a maltose-containing medium. This study demonstrates that highly efficient microbial fuel cells can be constructed with alkalophilic microorganisms by fine-tuning the operating conditions and by carefully selecting carbon sources in the initial culture medium.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.100.1-100.1
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• 2011

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS) are using widely as a useful technique mainly in the field of electrochemical for the analysis of electrode reactions or characteristics of the composites. The response analysis of the systems technique provides comprehensive informations about the characteristic and structure of complex and internal reaction. The EIS is the method to measure impedance of the measurement target classified by the frequency, it select the equivalent impedance model to give same response from the result and it calculate the parameter. Therefore, the chemical reaction inside the fuel cell is to modeling to electrical impedance. And as repeating the same experiment in each of the operating point, we can get each different parameter. As a result, we can establish the equivalent impedance model in each operating point. Therefore, if we use these models, we can evaluate the fuel cell without the internal design parameter of the fuel cell as required in existing modeling. The EIS is used typically technique for distinguish status of fuel cell called SOH(State Of Health). When the fuel cell is degradation, Efficiency and health of the fuel cell is reduced because internal impedance is increase. As usage of these principles, we can evaluate state of fuel cell through the impedance analysis of fuel cells. In this study, we are presents EIS distinction system and algorithm for residential fuel cell systems. At the time of the fuel cell installation in the fields, the EIS system and proposed algorithm will be able to apply as technique for efficiency and performance evaluation about fuel cell system.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2018

In this study, the optimal design methods of soft-switching cell for high-voltage DC-DC converter (HDC) of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) is proposed for high efficiency and high power density. The appropriate soft-switching cell for FCEVs is chosen by analyzing the losses of HDC which adopts soft-switching cell. The proposed optimal design methods for the soft-switching cell are divided into two purposes which are improvement of efficiency and power density. Two kinds of design methods enable to improve fuel efficiency and cost, respectively. The proposed design methods are validated with the experimental results based on the specification and hardware used in actual FCEVs.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.631-640
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• 2016

A dual-mode power management for a hybrid-electric UAV with a cruise power of 200W is proposed and empirically verified. The subject vehicle is a low-speed long-endurance UAV powered by a solar cell, a fuel cell, and a battery pack, which operate in the same voltage bounds. These power sources of different operational characteristics can be managed in two different methods: passive management and active management. This study proposes a new power management system named PMS2, which employs a bypass circuit to control the individual power sources. The PMS2 normally operates in active mode, and the bypass circuit converts the system into passive mode when necessary. The output characteristics of the hybrid system with the PMS2 are investigated under simulated failures in the power sources and the conversion of the power management methods. The investigation also provides quantitative comparisons of efficiencies of the system under the two distinct power management modes. In the case of the solar cell, the efficiency difference between the active and the passive management is shown to be 0.34% when the SOC of the battery is between 25-65%. However, if the SOC is out of this given range, i.e. when the SOC is at 90%, using active management displays an improved efficiency of 6.9%. In the case of the fuel cell, the efficiency of 55% is shown for both active and passive managements, indicating negligible differences.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.75-80
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• 2005

An experimental study is carried out to investigate the performance and the efficiency humidifying Membrane Electrolyte Assembly and having the double-tied catalyst layers in a fuel cell system which is taken into account the physical and thermal concept. Subsequently, an electric output produced by PEMFC(Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell) is measured to assess the performance of a stack, and the efficiency is also evaluated according to the different situation in which unit cell is placed with and without the humidification of the MEA. It is found that the measured values of stack voltage and current are influenced by the stack temperature, humidification, and the double-tied catalyst layers which give more enhanced values to be applied to electric units.