• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• 제59권3호
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• pp.339-344
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• 2021

고분자 전해질 연료전지(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, PEMFC) 내구성 향상을 위해서 고분자막의 내구성을 짧은 시간에 정확히 평가하는 것은 중요하다. 최근에 미국 에너지부(Department of Energy, DOE)에서 고분자막의 화학적 내구성과 기계적 내구성을 결합해 평가하는 프로토콜을 보고하였다. 이 프로토콜은 개회로전압(Open Circuit Voltage, OCV) 유지 상태에서 가습/건조를 반복함으로써 화학적/기계적 열화를 고분자막에 가한다. OCV 변화 반복에 따른 전극 열화의 영향을 많이 받고 평가시간이 장시간인 점들이 이 프로토콜의 문제점이다. 본 연구에서 DOE 프로토콜의 다른 조건들은 그대로 두고 양극(Cathode) 가스로 공기 대신 산소를 사용함으로써 내구평가 시간을 408시간에서 144시간으로 단축시킬 수 있었다. 전압변화 사이클 횟수를 1/3로 감소시킴으로써 전압변화 사이클에 의한 전극열화는 종료 시점에서 공기에 비해 산소 사용 시 1/12로 감소시켜서, 고분자막 내구 평가를 보다 정확히 할 수 있게 하였다.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2013년도 제44회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.598-598
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• 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.

• 한국자동차공학회논문집
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• 제22권7호
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• pp.76-83
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• 2014

During PEMFC(Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell) operation monitoring and diagnosis are important issues for reliability and durability. Stack defect can be followed by a critical cell voltage drop in the stack. One method for monitoring the cell voltage is CVM(Cell Voltage Monitoring), where all cells in the stack are electrically connected to a voltage measuring system and monitored these voltages. The other methods are based on the EIS(Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) and on nonlinear frequency response. In this paper, intermodulation(IM) method for diagnosis PEMFC stack is introduced. To detect one or more critical PEMFC cell voltage PEMFC stack is excited by two or more test sinusoid current, and the frequency response of the stack voltage is analyzed. If one or more critical cell voltage exists, higher harmonics on the voltage frequency spectrum will appear. For the proposed IM method, stack simulation and experiments are conducted.

• 전기화학회지
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.25-30
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• 2007

고분자전해질 연료전지의 성능은 cell 온도, 전체 압력, 반응 기체의 부분 압력 상대습도와 같은 다양한 요인들에 의해 영향을 받는다. 이온화된 수소 이온은 $H_3O^+$의 형태로 membrane을 통과하여 물을 생성하는 반응으로 전기를 발생시킨다. 대용량 연료전지에서는 부수적으로 생성되는 열을 제거하거나 다른 용도로 사용할 목적으로 냉각시스템이 필요하다. 냉각수의 전도도가 상승할 경우에 연료전지에서 발생된 전류의 일부가 냉각수를 통하여 누설되어 연료전지의 성능을 감소시킬 수 있다. 본 연구에서는 3차 증류수와 ethylene glycol이 함유되어 있는 부동액을 사용하여 저항 수치 변화를 관찰하는 실험을 수행하였다. 3차 증류수의 경우 저항값이 설정치 이하로 내려가는데 약 28일이 소요되었고, 연료전지의 운전에 의한 영향은 관찰되지 않았다. 부동액을 냉각수로 사용한 경우는 43일이 지나도 저항값이 설정치 이하로 내려가지는 않았지만, stack 분리판의 접착부에 이상이 생긴 것으로 추정되는 연료전지의 성능 저하가 발생하여 전도도 실험을 중단하였다. 고분자전해질 연료전지에서는 수소이온의 이온전도성 저하를 방지하기 위하여 외부에서 가습하여 주는 방식이 일반적이지만, 소용량 연료전지에서는 무가습 조건을 적용하여 연료전지의 효율을 높이고 제작단가도 경감할 수 있다. 이를 위하여 저가습 및 무가습 실험을 수행하였으나 대용량 연료전지에서는 양측 무가습인 경우에 $50{\sim}60^{\circ}C$ 이상의 고온에서 성능이 발현되기 어려운 것으로 관찰되었다. 냉각수의 유량을 다르게 하여 실험을 수행한 경우에는 0.78L/min과 같은 낮은 유량에서 출구온도와 입구온도를 측정하여 본 결과 두 온도 사이에 ${\Delta}T$가 다른 유량에서보다 크게 발생하여 성능이 감소된 것으로 사료된다. 이와 같이 냉각수의 온도와 유량을 다르게 하여 양측 무가습 실험을 수행한 결과, 연료전지의 성능이 cell 온도에 직접적인 연관이 있는 것으로 관찰되었다.

• 대한기계학회논문집A
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• 제28권7호
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• pp.877-884
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• 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.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.132-151
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• 2024

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has received extensive attention as it is the most common hydrogen energy utilization device. This research not only investigated the effect of obstacle number and shape on PEMFC performance, but also studied the effect of the blockage degree in the channel of PEMFC on its performance. It was found that compared with traditional scheme, longitudinally distributed obstacles scheme can significantly promote reactants transfer to catalyst layer, and the blockage degree in the channel effect PEMFC performance most. The scheme with 10 rectangular obstacles in single channel and 60% channel blockage had the best output performance and the most uniform distribution of reactants and products. Obstacle height distribution can significantly affect PEMFC performance, the blockage degree in the whole basin was large, particularly as the channel was blocked to higher degree in region 2 and region 3, higher net power density and better mass transfer effect can be obtained. Among them, the fuel cell with the blockage degree of 40%, 60% and 60% in region 1, region 2 and region 3 have the best PEMFC output performance and mass transfer, the net power density was 29.8% higher than that of traditional scheme.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.499-504
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• 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.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2007년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.166-168
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• 2007

고분자 전해질 연료전지는 다수의 단위 cell을 적층하여 stack을 형성하게 되며, 각 단위 cell 은 분리판과 MEA 사이에 gasket을 장착하게 된다. 이때 장착된 gasket은 분리판과 MEA사이의 일정한 gap을 유지하여 가스를 균일하게 분배되도록 할 뿐만 아니라, 가스 유출을 막는 sealing 재(材)로서의 역할을 한다. 따라서 고분자 전해질 연료전지의 성능확보를 위해서는 내구성 및 가스 기밀성이 우수한 gasket 개발이 무엇보다 중요하다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 gasket 물성을 만족시킬 수 있는 고분자 전해질 연료전지용 gasket을 개발하고자 하였으며, 이를 검증하기 위하여 가혹 조건에서 실험을 수행하였다. 그 결과 종래의 gasket 보다 열적, 화학적 및 가스기밀성 변에서 우수한 고분자 전해질 연료전지용 gasket을 얻을 수 있었다.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제19권4호
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• pp.283-290
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• 2008

In this paper, experiments with an air-breathing proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for mobile devices were carried out according to cathode conditions. These conditions are defined by the cathode flow field plate type (the channel type, the open type) and the cathode surface direction. Single-cell and 6-cell stack were used in the experiments. The experimental results showed that the open-type cathode flow field plate gave a better performance than the small channel type. In the experiments related to the direction of the slits on the cathode flow field plate, the horizontal slit cell was better than the vertical one. With respect to the cathode surface direction, when the cathode surface is placed in the direction normal to the ground, the PEMFC generated more stable power in the mass transport loss region. Since stable power in the mass transport region is closely related to the air supply, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis for air-breathing PEMFC of different cathode surface directions was performed.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2008년도 춘계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.33-36
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• 2008

The transient behavior of a passive air breathing direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) operated on vapor-feeding mode is studied in this paper. It generally takes 30 minutes after starting for the cell response to come to its steady-state and the response is sometimes unstable. A mathematical dynamic one-dimensional model for simulating transient response of the DMFC is presented. In this model a DMFC is decomposed into its subsystems using lumped model and divided into five layers, namely the anodic diffusion layer, the anodic catalyst layer, the proton exchange membrane (PEM), the cathodic catalyst layer and the cathodic diffusion layer. All layers are considered to have finite thickness, and within every one of them a set of differential-algebraic governing equations are given to represent multi-components mass balance, such as methanol, water, oxygen and carbon dioxide, charge balance, the electrochemical reaction and mass transport phenomena. A one-dimensional, isothermal and mass transport model is developed that captures the coupling between water generation and transport, oxygen consumption and natural convection. The single cell is supplied by pure methanol vapor from a methanol reservoir at the anode, and the oxygen is supplied via natural air-breathing at the cathode. The water is not supplied from external source because the cell uses the water created at the cathode using water back diffusion through nafion membrane. As a result of simulation strong effects of water transport were found out. The model analysis provides several conclusions. The performance drop after peak point is caused by insufficiency of water at the anode. The excess water at the cathode makes performance recovery impossible. The undesired crossover of the reactant methanol through the PEM causes overpotential at the cathode and limits the feeding methanol concentration.