• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.33 no.11
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• pp.834-839
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• 2009

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is performed to investigate flow characteristics in the anode channels and manifold of the internal reforming type molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). Considering the computational difficulties associated with the size and geometric complexity of the MCFC system, the polyhedral meshes that can reduce mesh connectivity problems at the intersection of the channel and the manifold are adopted and chemical reactions inside the MCFC system are not included. Through this study, the gas flow rate uniformity of the anode channels is mainly analyzed to provide basic insights into improved design parameters for anode flow channel design. Results indicate that the uniformity in flow-rate is in the range of ${\pm}$1% between the anode channels. Also, the mal-distributed inlet flow-rate conditions and the change in the size of the manifold depth have no significant effect on the flow-rate uniformity of the anode channels.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.170-170
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• 2009

AIP(Air Independent Propulsion)시스템에 적용되는 연료전지 스택의 경우 연료의 이용율을 극대화시키는 것이 매우 중요하다. 일반적인 연료전지 스택은 물배출과 성능의 안정화를 위해 이론적 요구량보다 양론적으로 많은 양을 공급하여, 반응에 사용되지 않고 배출되는 연료 가스가 많아 이용율이 낮다. 여러 단으로 구성되어 전 단에서 사용하고 남은 연료 가스를 다음 단에 재공급하여 사용하는 케스케이드 구조의 연료전지 스택을 적용하게 되면 연료이용율을 90% 이상으로 높일 수 있다. 그러나 연료전지 스택에서 반응에 의해 발생한 물과 응축된 가습수가 재공급되면 연료전지 스택의 성능과 내구성에 악영향을 주는 플러딩현상이 발생하게 된다. 반면 반응수와 응축수를 제거할 때 스택에 재공급되는 연료 가스의 가습수가 같이 제거되면 낮은 가습도로 스택에 공급되는 문제점도 있다. 따라서 연료 가스의 가습도를 잘 유지하면서 액화된 물만 원활하게 제거할 수 있는 기액분리기의 개발이 필요하다. 본 연구에서는 CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics)해석을 활용하여 다양한 디자인의 기액분리기를 설계하고 실험을 통해 각 디자인의 장단점을 분석하였다. 결과를 바탕으로 최적의 기액분리기를 개발하고 제작 및 평가를 통해 성능을 검증하였다.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.127-130
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• 2009

The uniform gas distribution between anode channels of the indirect internal reforming type molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) is crucial design parameter because of the electric performance and the durability problems. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is performed to investigate flow characteristics in the anode channels and manifold under different pressure drop and channel temperature conditions. The combined meshes consists of hexadral meshes in the channels and polyhedral meshes in the manifold are adopted and chemical reactions inside the MCFC system are not included because of computational difficulties associated with the size and geometric complexity of the system. Results indicate that the uniformity in flow-rate is in the range of $\pm$ 0.048 % between the anode channels when the pressure drop of anode channel is about 150 Pa. A gas flow-rate uniformity decreases as the pressure drop of anode channels decreases and as the temperature difference between indirect internal reforming (IIR) channels and anode channels increases.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.3120-3124
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• 2008

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis is performed to investigate flow characteristics in the anode channels and manifold of the internal reforming type molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). Considering the computational difficulties associated with the size and geometric complexity of the MCFC system, the polyhedral meshes that can reduce mesh connectivity problems at the intersection of the channel and the manifold are adopted and chemical reactions inside the MCFC system are not included. Through this study, the gas flow rate uniformity of the anode channels is mainly analyzed to provide basic insights into improved design parameters for anode flow channel design. Results indicate that the uniformity in flow-rate is in the range of ${\pm}1%$ between the anode channels. Also, the mal-distributed inlet flow-rate conditions and the change in the size of the manifold depth have no significant effect on the flow-rate uniformity of the anode channels.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.196-204
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• 2023

This study performed the numerical analysis of the internal flow phenomena of 1 kWe-class solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks with internal manifold type and planar cells using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, Star-CCM+. In particular, the locations where the turbulent phenomena occur inside the SOFC stack were investigated. In addition, the laminar flow model and the standard k-ε turbulent model were used to calculate the SOFC stack, separately. And, the calculation results of both laminar and turbulent models were compared. The calculation results showed that turbulent phenomena occurred mainly in the cathode flow. Especially, the turbulent phenomena were found in the cathode inlet/outlet region, and local turbulence occurred in the end plate near the inlet pipe.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2022

This study analyzes FCEV among measures to respond to climate change policies. In particular, it proposes alternatives to solve this problem in the trade industry, which relies on transportation sectors with high greenhouse gas emissions such as exports and imports of goods. Therefore, when FCEV is introduced in the transportation sector, changes in CO2 emissions, a greenhouse gas, and changes in logistics costs for changes in CO2 emissions are set through scenarios to evaluate the impact on product trade, such as imports and exports. As a result, the increase in logistics costs due to carbon dioxide emissions affected the import and export volume of goods, and when FCEV was introduced, the export volume would increase by up to 5.6%, and the import volume by up to 30%. In addition, CO2 emissions decreased to about 60% in 2050. Therefore, the introduction of FCEV in the transportation sector will greatly contribute to increasing sales in the trading industry and will be able to solve environmental problems such as greenhouse gas reduction.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.76-83
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• 2013

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are regarded as a promising alternative to replace the existing automotive power sources. To get high performance and long-term durability for PEMFC systems, novel water management is essential. To this end, a comprehensive understanding of dynamics of the liquid water droplets within an operating PEMFC plays an important role. In this work, direct visualization of dynamic behaviors of the water droplet in the ex situ unit flow channel of a PEMFC including gas diffusion layer (GDL) is carried out as one of the fundamental studies for novel water management. Water droplet dynamics such as the movement and growth of liquid water droplets are mainly presented. Effects of GDL characteristics and inlet air flow rate on the water droplet transport and its removal from the flow channel are also discussed. The data obtained in this study can contribute to build up the fundamental operating strategy including balanced water removal capacity for automotive PEMFC systems.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.10
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• pp.885-891
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• 2010

Thermal management is important for enhancing the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and is taken into account in the design of PEMFCs. In general, cooling pates with circulating liquid coolant (water) are inserted between several unit cells to exhaust the reaction heat from PEMFCs. In this study, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed to characterize the uniform cooling performance of parallel multipass serpentine flow fields (MPSFFs) that were used as coolant flow channels in PEMFCs. The cooling performances of conventional serpentine and parallel flow fields were also evaluated for the purpose of comparison. The CFD results showed that the use of parallel MPSFFs can help reduce the temperature nonuniformity, and thus, can favorably enhance the performance and durability of PEMFCs.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.403-408
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• 2006

The plate reformer consisting of combustion chamber and reforming chamber for 25 kW MCFC stack has been operated and computational fluid dynamics was applied to estimate reactions and thermal fluid behavior in the reformer. The methane air 2-stage reaction was assumed in the combustion chamber, and three step steam reforming reactions were included in the calculation. Flow uniformity, reaction rate and species distribution, and temperature distribution were analyzed. In particular, temperature distribution was compared with the measurements to show good agreement in the combustion chamber, however, inappropriate agreement in the reformer chamber.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2019

In this study, effects of flow types and size of molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) were investigated using CFD simulation. In the simulation, the current collector of MCFCs were assumed to be an porous media. With the area of $0.09m^2$, the effect of flow types such as Co-flow, Counter-flow, Cross-flow were studied. After that the effect of the size and flow direction was studied. Among three-flow types, MCFCs with co-flow type shows more uniform distribution and current density distribution.