Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society (한국수소및신에너지학회논문집)

The Korean Hydrogen and New Energy Society (한국수소및신에너지학회)
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Effects of the Operating Conditions on the Performance of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

직접메탄올 연료전지의 운전 조건이 성능에 미치는 영향

  • Han, Chang-Hwa (Dept. of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Engineering, Chonbuk National University) ;
  • Kim, Nam-Hoon (Dept. of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Engineering, Chonbuk National University) ;
  • Lee, Joong-Hee (Dept. of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Engineering, Chonbuk National University)
  • 한창화 (전북대학교 수소.연료전지 특성화대학원) ;
  • 김남훈 (전북대학교 수소.연료전지 특성화대학원) ;
  • 이중희 (전북대학교 수소.연료전지 특성화대학원)
  • Received : 2011.05.30
  • Accepted : 2011.06.20
  • Published : 2011.06.30
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Abstract

This study examines the effects of the ambient temperature (AT), methanol feeding temperature (MFT), methanol concentration (MC) and methanol flow rate (MFR) on the performance and cell temperature (CT) of a 5-stacked direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The AT, MFT, MC, and MFR are varied from $-10^{\circ}C$ to $+40^{\circ}C$, $50^{\circ}C$ to $90^{\circ}C$, 0.5M to 3.0M and 11.7 mL $min^{-1}$ to 46.8 mL $min^{-1}$, respectively. The performance of the DMFC under various operating conditions is analyzed from the I-V polarization curve, and the methanol crossover is estimated by gas chromatography (GC). The performance of the DMFC improves significantly with increasing AT. The open circuit voltage (OCV) decreases with increasing MC due to the enhanced likelihood of methanol crossover. The cell performance is improved significantly when the MFR is increased from 11.7 mL $min^{-1}$ to 28.08 mL $min^{-1}$. The change in cell performance is marginal with further increases in MFR. The CT increases significantly with increasing AT. The effect of the MFT and MFR is moderate, and the effect of MC is marginal on the CT of the DMFC.

Keywords

References

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