• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.305-312
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• 2011

The use of a separator to control stack temperature in a molten carbonate fuel cell was studied by numerical simulation using a computational fluid dynamics code. The stack model assumed steady-state and constant-load operation of a co-flow stack with an external reformer at atmospheric pressure. Representing a conventional cell type, separators with two flow paths, one each for the anode and cathode gas, were simulated under conditions in which the cathode gas was composed of either air and carbon dioxide (case I) or oxygen and carbon dioxide (case II). The results showed that the average cell potential in case II was higher than that in case I due to the higher partial pressures of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the cathode gas. This result indicates that the amount of heat released during the electrochemical reactions was less for case II than for case I under the same load. However, simulated results showed that the maximum stack temperature in case I was lower than that in case II due to a reduction in the total flow rate of the cathode gas. To control the stack temperature and retain a high cell potential, we proposed the use of a separator with three flow paths (case III); two flow paths for the electrodes and a path in the center of the separator for the flow of nitrogen for cooling. The simulated results for case III showed that the average cell potential was similar to that in case II, indicating that the amount of heat released in the stack was similar to that in case II, and that the maximum stack temperature was the lowest of the three cases due to the nitrogen gas flow in the center of the separator. In summary, the simulated results showed that the use of a separator with three flow paths enabled temperature control in a co-flow stack with an external reformer at atmospheric pressure.

• 한국진공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국진공학회 2016년도 제50회 동계 정기학술대회 초록집
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• pp.403.2-403.2
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• 2016

Porous materials play a significant role in energy storage and conversion applications such as catalyst support for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. In particular, hierarchical porous materials with both micropores (poresize, ${\delta}$ < 2 nm) and regularly arranged mesopores (2 nm < ${\delta}$ < 50 nm) are known to greatly enhance the efficiency of catalytic reactions by providing enormous surface area as well as fast mass transport channels for both reactants and products from/to active sites. Although it is generally agreed that the microscopic structure of the porous materials directly affects the performance of these catalytic reactions, neither detailed mechanisms nor fundamental understanding are available at hand. In this study, we propose an atomistic model of hierarchical nanostructured porous carbons (HNPCs) in molecular dynamics simulations. By performing a systematic study, we found that structural features of the HNPC can be independently altered by tuning specific synthesis parameters, while remaining other structures unchanged. In addition, we show some structure-property relations including mechanical and gas transport properties.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전산유체공학회 2008년도 춘계학술대회논문집
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• pp.656-657
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• 2008

The droplet dynamics in a hydrophilic/hydrophobic microchannel, which is applicable to a typical proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), is studied numerically by solving the equations governing conservation of mass and momentum. The liquid-gas interface or droplet shape is determined by a level set method which is modified to treat contact angles. The matching conditions at the interface are accurately imposed by incorporating the ghost fluid approach based on a sharp-interface representation. The effects of contact angle, inlet flow velocity, droplet size and side wall on the droplet motion are investigated parametrically. Based on the numerical results, the droplet dynamics including the sliding and detachment of droplets is found to depend significantly on the contact angle. Also, a droplet removal process is demonstrated on the combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2007년도 추계학술대회 논문집
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• pp.23-26
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• 2007

Liquid water in flow channel is an important factor that limits the steady and transient performance of PEM fuel cells. A computational fluid dynamics study based on the volume-of-fluid (VOF) multi-phase model is conducted to understand the transport behavior of liquid water in flow channel. The liquid water transport in $180^{\circ}$ bends is investigated and the effect of chamfering is discussed. The effect of wall adhesion is also considered by varying the contact angle of channel surfaces. The result of this study is believed to provide a useful guideline for design optimization of flow patterns or channel configurations of PEM fuel cells.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제47권7호
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• pp.814-826
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• 2015

The most important advantage of nanoparticles is the increased thermal conductivity coefficient and convection heat transfer coefficient so that, as a result of using a 1.5% volume concentration of nanoparticles, the thermal conductivity coefficient would increase by about twice. In this paper, the effects of a nanofluid ($TiO_2$/water) on heat transfer characteristics such as the thermal conductivity coefficient, heat transfer coefficient, fuel clad, and fuel center temperatures in a VVER-1000 nuclear reactor are investigated. To this end, the cell equivalent of a fuel rod and its surrounding coolant fluid were obtained in the hexagonal fuel assembly of a VVER-1000 reactor. Then, a fuel rod was simulated in the hot channel using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation codes and thermohydraulic calculations (maximum fuel temperature, fluid outlet, Minimum Departure from Nucleate Boiling Ratio (MDNBR), etc.) were performed and compared with a VVER-1000 reactor without nanoparticles. One of the most important results of the analysis was that heat transfer and the thermal conductivity coefficient increased, and usage of the nanofluid reduced MDNBR.

• 대한기계학회논문집B
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• 제33권2호
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• pp.85-92
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• 2009

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are a promising technology for short-term power generation required in residential and automobile applications. Proper management of water has been found to be essential for improving the performance and durability of PEM fuel cells. This study investigated the liquid water exhaust capabilities of various flow channels having different geometries and surface properties. Three-pass serpentine flow fields were prepared by patterning channels of 1 mm or 2 mm width onto hydrophilic Acrylic plates or hydrophobic Teflon plates, and the behaviors of liquid water in those flow channels were experimentally visualized. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were also conducted to quantitatively assess the liquid water exhaust capabilities of flow channels for PEM fuel cells. Numerical results showed that hydrophobic flow channels have better liquid water exhaust capabilities than hydrophilic flow channels. Flow channels with curved corners showed less droplet stagnation than the channels with sharp corners. It was also found that a smaller width is desirable for hydrophobic flow channels while a larger width is desirable for hydrophilic ones. The above results were explained as being due to the different droplet morphologies in hydrophobic and hydrophilic channels.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.1-12
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• 2016

In this study, CFD model for a Heat Exchange Steam Reformer (HESR) used for a 10kW SOFC system is developed for the design optimization of the HESR. The model is used to explore the effect of design parameters on the performance of the HESR. In the HESR, heat is delivered from the hot gas channel to the fuel channel to supply the heat required for the fuel reforming. In the fuel channel where the fuel is reformed, thermo-fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and chemical reaction are considered to predict the performance of the reformer. The model is validated with experimental data within 2~3% error. The validated model is used for the parametric study of the HESR design. Channel length, channel diameter, and flow direction are selected as the design parameters. The effects of the HESR design parameters on the outlet temperature, outlet H2 mole fraction, and pressure drop across the reformer are presented using the model.

• 조명전기설비학회논문지
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• 제25권3호
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• pp.50-64
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• 2011

In this paper, a DC-coupled photovoltaic (PV), fuel cell (FC) and ultracapacitor hybrid power system is studied for building microgrid. In this proposed system, the PV system provides electric energy to the electrolyzer to produce hydrogen for future use and transfer to the load side, if possible. Whenever the PV system cannot completely meet load demands, the FC system provides power to meet the remaining load. The main weak point of the FC system is slow dynamics, because the power slope is limited to prevent fuel starvation problems, improve performance and increase lifetime. A power management and control algorithm is proposed for the hybrid power system by taking into account the characteristics of each power source. The main works of this paper are hybridization of alternate energy sources with FC systems using long and short storage strategies to build an autonomous system with pragmatic design, and a dynamic model proposed for a PV/FC/UC bank hybrid power generation system. A simulation model for the hybrid power system has been developed using Matlab/Simulink, SimPowerSystems and Matlab/Stateflow. The system performance under the different scenarios has been verified by carrying out simulation studies using a practical load demand profile, hybrid power management and control, and real weather data.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제35권2호
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• pp.205-215
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• 2024

This study introduced a direct contact heat exchanger to enhance the efficiency of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) systems. According to previous research, 28% of the operating costs of fuel cell systems are attributed to heat exchanger devices, prompting the design of a direct contact heat exchanger to address this issue. Optimal configurations were determined through computational fluid dynamics analysis and experimental device fabrication, and the enhanced heat exchange performance of the heat exchanger was experimentally confirmed. Through this, the contribution of the direct contact heat exchanger to the heat management and efficiency enhancement of PEMFC systems was established.

• 전기화학회지
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.61-67
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• 2009

Flow-field design has much influence over the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) because it affects the pressure magnitude and distribution of the reactant gases. To obtain the pressure magnitude and distribution of reactant gases in five kinds of flow-field designs, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed. After the CFD analysis, a single cell test was carried out to obtain the performance values. As expected, the pressure differences due to different flow-field configurations were related to the PEMFC performance because the actual performance results showed the same tendency as the results of the CFD analysis. A large pressure drop resulted in high PEMFC performance. The single serpentine configuration gave the highest performance because of the high pressure difference magnitudes of the inlet/outlet. On the other hand, the parallel flow-field configuration gave the lowest performance because the pressure difference between inlet and outlet was the lowest.