• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.133.2-133.2
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• 2010

현재 융융탄산염 연료전지의 공기극으로 다공성의 lithiated NiO를 사용하고 있는데 이 재료의 경우 크게 두 가지의 문제점을 안고 있다. 첫 번째는 Ni이 전해질 내로 용해하는 것이고, 두 번째는 낮은 활성으로 인한 높은 공기극의 분극이다. Ni이 전해질로 용해되는 문제는 Co나 Fe를 코팅하여 공기극 표면에 $Li_x(Ni_yCo_{1-y})1-xO_2$나 $Li_x(Ni_yFe_{1-y})_{1-x}O_2$를 형성시켜 NiO의 전해질 내로 용해되는 것을 억제하는 방법이나 ZnO, MgO, $La_2O_3$ 등의 산화물을 NiO 표면에 코팅하여 전해질과 접촉을 막는 방식으로 해결하는 등 많은 연구가 이루어져 왔다. 하지만 연료극의 비해 상당히 높은 공기극의 분극으로 인해 큰 전압손실이 일어나 용융탄산염 연료전지 성능이 낮아지는 문제의 경우 이를 해결하고자 하는 연구는 상대적으로 많이 진행되지 못한 상태이다. 특히 현재 용융탄산염 연료전지의 장기수명화를 위해 기존의 작동온도인 $650^{\circ}C$ 보다 다소 낮은 온도인 $600{\sim}620^{\circ}C$에서 작동하려는 움직임이 있다. 작동 온도가 내려가면 전해질이 휘발되는 속도가 낮아져 전해질 부족에 따른 운전시간이 줄어드는 문제를 해결할 수 있어 장기 수명화를 위해서는 작동온도를 낮추는 것이 매우 유리하다. 하지만 작동 온도가 내려가면서 양 전극에서 일어나는 전기화학 반응 속도가 느려지기 때문에 각 전극에서의 활성화 분극으로 인한 전압손실은 더욱 커질 수밖에 없다. 특히 연료극의 수소산화반응 속도는 공기극의 산소환원반응에 비해 매우 빠르기 때문에 작동 온도가 내려감에 따라 연료극의 분극이 커지는 것에 비해 공기극의 분극이 급격히 커지게 된다. 따라서 운전온도가 낮아지는 상황에서는 낮은 작동온도에서도 성능감소가 적게 일어나 0.8V 이상 운전(150mA/$cm^2$, 단위전지 기준)이 가능한 공기극의 개발이 매우 필요한 실정이다. 이를 해결하고자 본 연구에서는 고체 산화물 연료전지의 공기극의 재료로 많이 연구되고 있는 혼합전도성 물질의 페로브스카이트 구조의 물질을 기존 NiO 전극에 코팅하여 새로운 공기극을 개발하였다. 페로브스카이트 구조의 물질로 대표적인 LSCF 물질을 사용하였으며 LSCF를 코팅한 공기극을 이용한 단위전지에서 150mA/$cm^2$의 전류를 흘려주었을 때 0.84V의 성능을 1000hr 유지하였다. 이는 기존의 NiO 전극을 사용했을 때보다 15~20mV 높은 값이다. 낮은 작동온도에서도 좋은 성능을 보였는데, 기존의 NiO 전극의 경우 $630^{\circ}C$에서 0.79V의 성능을 보인 반면 LSCF가 코팅된 공기극의 경우 $620^{\circ}C$에서 0.811V의 매우 좋은 성능을 보였다. 이는 LSCF의 산소이온전도성 및 전기전도성이 공기극에서의 분극을 낮추어 성능을 증가시키는 것으로 보인다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.85.2-85.2
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• 2011

현재 중온의 고체산화물 연료전지를 위해 다양한 전해질에 대한 연구되었으며 1994년 Ishihara et al.에서 1074K의 온도에서 높은 이온전도도를 갖는 페록스카이 구조를 갖는 LSGM 물질을 발표하였다. Sr과 Mg을 도핑한 Lanthanum gallate는 이온전도도가 1073K에서 0.14S/cm로 YSZ의 5배로 높은 이온전도도를 갖고 있으며 산화환경에서부터 환원환경에서 화학적으로 안정한 특성을 갖고 있다. 또한 LSGM 전해질은 넓은 산소 농도범위에서 안정적인 특성을 갖는 장점을 갖고 있다. 그러나 LSGM은 가장 널리 사용되는 연료극의 Ni 촉매와 고온 소결시 상호확산현상에 의한 2차상을 생성시켜 성능 저감의 원인으로 그 해결방안이 요원한 실정이다. 이에 본 논문에서는 LSGM 전해질에 LSGM scaffold를 형성하고 형성된 scaffold에 연료극 촉매 solution을 infiltration 시켜 저온에서 anode를 형성하여 그 성능을 연구하였다.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2012

There are many factors to consider when attempting to improve the efficiency of fuel cell operation, such as the operation temperature, humidity, stoichiometry, operation pressure, geometric features, etc. In this paper, the effects of the operation pressure were investigated to find the current density and water saturation behavior on a cross section designated by the design geometry. A two-dimensional geometric model was established with a gas channel that can provide $H_2$ to the anode and $O_2$ and water vapor to the cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL). The results from this numerical modeling revealed that higher operation pressures would produce a higher current density than lower ones, and the water saturation behavior was different at operation pressures of 2 atm and 3 atm in the cathode GDL. In particular, the water saturation ratios are higher directly below the collector than in other areas. In addition, this paper presents the dependence of the velocity behavior in the cathode on pressure changes, and the velocity fluctuations through the GDL are higher in the output area than in inlet area. This conclusion will be utilized to design more efficient fuel cell modeling of real fuel cell operation.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.61-66
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• 2022

This study is to increase the surface area and maximize the effect of the catalyst by coating a nanometersized metal catalyst material on the anode layer using atomic layer deposition (ALD) technology. ALD process is known to produce uniform films with well-controlled thickness at the atomic level on substrates. We measured the performance by coating metals (Ni) on Ni/YSZ, which is the most widely known anode material for solid oxide fuel cells. ALD coatings began to show a decrease in cell performance over 3 nm coatings.

• Ceramist
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.24-33
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• 2012

• Clean Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-68
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• 2008

There have been great attentions on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to their advantageous characteristics such as zero emission of hazardous pollutant and high energy density. In this work, we evaluated degradation phenomena and stability of single cell performance via one dimensional single cell modeling. Here, CO poisoning on anode on anode was considered for cell performance degradation. Modeling results showed that the performance and stability were highly degraded with CO concentration in fuel gas. In addition, cell performance was reduced by slow oxygen reduction on cathode in long term operation. In order to overcome, it is required to increase ratio o#hydrogen in the fuel gas of anode and high Pt loading contained in the cathodic catalyst layer.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.170-177
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• 2006

Optimum design of flow channel in the separation plate of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell is very prerequisite to reduce concentration over potential at high current region and remove the water generated in cathode effectively. In this paper, fully 3 dimensional computational model which solves anode and cathode flow fields simultaneously is developed in order to compare the performance of fuel cell with parallel and interdigitated flow channels. Oxygen and water concentration and pressure drop are calculated and i-V performance characteristics are compared between flows with two flow channels. Results show that performance of fuel cell with interdigitated flow channel is hi민or than that with parallel flow channel at high current region because hydrogen and oxygen in interdigitated flow channel are transported to catalyst layer effectively due to strong convective transport through gas diffusion layer but pressure drop is larger than that in parallel flow channel. Therefore Trade-off between power gain and pressure loss should be considered in design of fuel cell with interdigitated flow channel.

• Clean Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.329-335
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• 2020

Methanol synthesized from renewable hydrogen and captured CO2 has recently attracted great interest as a sustainable energy carrier for large-scale renewable energy storage. In this study, molten carbonate fuel cell's performance was investigated with the direct conversion of methanol into syngas inside the anode chamber of the cell. The internal reforming of methanol may significantly improve system efficiency since the heat generated from the electrochemical reaction can be used directly for the endothermic reforming reaction. The porous Ni-10 wt%Cr anode was sufficient for the methanol steam reforming reaction under the fuel cell operating condition. The direct supply of methanol into the anode chamber resulted in somewhat lower cell performance, especially at high current density. Recycling of the product gas into the anode gas inlet significantly improved the cell performance. The analysis based on material balance revealed that, with increasing current density and gas recycling ratio, the methanol steam reforming reaction rate likewise increased. A methanol conversion more significant than 90% was achieved with gas recycling. The results showed the feasibility of electricity and syngas co-production using the molten carbonate fuel cell. Further research is needed to optimize the fuel cell operating conditions for simultaneous production of electricity and syngas, considering both material and energy balances in the fuel cell.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2008

Many researches for effects of different flow configurations on performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell have extensively been done but the effects of flow direction at the same flow channel shape should be considered for optimal operation of fuel cell as well. In this paper a numerical computational methode for simulating entire reactive flow fields including anode and cathode flow has been developed and the effects of different flow direction at parallel flow was studied. Pressure drop along the flow channel and density distribution of reactant and products and water transport, ion conductivity across the membrane and I-V performance are compared in terms of flow directions(co-flow or counter-flow) using above numerical simulation method. The results show that the performance under counter-flow condition is superior to that under co-flow condition due to higher reactant and water transport resulting to higher ion conductivity of membrane.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.61-64
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• 2008

$Pr_{0.3}Sr_{0.7}Co_{0.3}Fe_{0.7}O_{3-\delta}$ (PSCF3737) was prepared and characterized as a cathode material for intermediate temperature-operating solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC). X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and electrical property measurement were carried out to study cathode performance of the material. XPS and EXAFS results proved that oxygen vacancy concentration was decreased and lattice constants of the perovskite structure material were increased by doping Fe up to 70 mol% at B-site of the crystal structure, which also extended the distance between oxygen and neighbor atoms. Thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) of PSCF3737 is smaller than that of $Pr_{0.3}Sr_{0.7}CoO_{3-\delta}$(PSC37) due to lower oxygen vacancy concentration. PSCF3737 showed better cathode performance than PSC37. It might be due good adhesion by a smaller difference of TEC between $Gd_{0.1}Ce_{0.9}O_2$ (CGO91) and electrode. Composite material PSCF3737-CGO91 showed better compatibility of TEC than PSCF3737. However, PSCF3737-CGO91 did not represent higher electrochemical property than PSCF3737 due to decreased reaction sites by CGO91.