• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
• /
• 2008.04a
• /
• pp.101-108
• /
• 2008

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising power generation devices which are ideal for residential and automobile applications, thanks to their fast transient characteristics. However, liquid water produced in PEM fuel cells should be properly managed to enhance the performances and durabilities of the cells. In this study, a visualization experiment was conducted to investigate the flow behavior of water droplets in cathode channels. The visualization experiment was done with four different model flow channels which were made by varying the material (Acrylic and Teflon) and the channel width (1 mm and 2 mm). Acrylic is hydrophilic (contact angle is about $80^{\circ}$) while Teflon is hydrophobic (contact angle is about $120^{\circ}$). A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was also performed to compare the observed and the simulated two-phase water/air flow characteristics in cathode channels. The computational models were made to be consistent with the geometries and surface properties of the model flow channels. Both the experimental and numerical results showed that the Teflon cathode channel with 1 mm width has the best water management performance among four model flow channels considered. A close correlation was found between the experimental visualization results and the numerical CFD simulation results.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 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.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2016

Fuel cells are regarded as a representative energy source expected to replace fossil fuels particularly used in internal combustion engines. One of the most important components is polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) acting as a proton conducting barrier to prevent fuel gas crossover. Since water channels act as proton pathways through PEMs, many researchers have been focused on the 'good phase-separation of hydrophilic moiety' which ensures high water retention under low humidity enough to keep the water channel for good proton conduction. Here, we summarized the strategies which have been adopted to synthesize sulfonated PEMs having high proton conductivities even under low humidified conditions, and hope this review will be helpful to design high performance hydrocarbon PEMs.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.137-141
• /
• 2007

The startup behaviour of PEM fuel cells at subfreeze zero is one of the most challenging tasks to be solved before PEM fuel cell vehicle is commercialized. Automotive companies are trying to increase cold statup capability of fuel cell. In this study, we found out the design factor of the stack to increase cold startup capability using 4kW stack and then cold startup test was performed at the various shutdown condition and the various current. In order to test the cold startup possibility and capability in vehicle, we installed 80kW stack in the vehicle and this 80kW fuel cell vehicle was housed in an environmental chamber to investigate the characteristics of cold startup and driving. We found that it is possible for fuel cell vehicle with 80kW stack to self-heated cold startup and drive at $-15^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.10 no.6
• /
• pp.739-748
• /
• 2010

The increased integration of fuel cells with power electronics, critical loads, and control systems has prompted recent interest in accurate electrical terminal models of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Advancement in computing technologies, particularly parallel computation techniques and various real-time simulation tools have allowed the prototyping of novel apparatus to be investigated in a virtual system under a wide range of realistic conditions repeatedly, safely, and economically. This paper builds upon both advancements and provides a means of optimized model construction boosting computation speeds for a fuel cell model on a real-time simulator which can be used in a power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) application. Significant improvement in computation time has been achieved. The effectiveness of the proposed model developed on Opal RT's RT-Lab Matlab/Simulink based real-time engineering simulator is verified using experimental results from a Ballard Nexa fuel cell system.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.209-216
• /
• 2008

In the present study, a mathematical model has been formulated for the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Modify the concentration polarization equation using concentration coefficient that represents the characteristics of bipolar plate reactant distribution. The model predictions have been compared with experimental results and good agreement has been demonstrated for the cell polarization curves. The effects of operating parameters on the performance of fuel cells have been studied. Increases of operation pressure reduce the effect of temperature on the performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.1136-1139
• /
• 2005

As alternative materials for bipolar plate of PEM Fuel Cells, carbon composites were fabricated by compression molding. In this study, four types of nano particles, such as Carbon nanotubes, Carbon black, GX-15 and P-15 were mixed with epoxy resin to provide electric conductivity and structural properties. By increasing pressure during molding and volume ratio of nano particles, the physical contact among particles was improved resulting in increased electric conductivity. Surface resistance test showed, P-15 particles have the highest electric conductivity.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.96-102
• /
• 2008

Direct quantification of methanol in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was studied and the methanol concentrations in PEM produced by crossover and diffusion were compared. The error range of the quantification was not smaller than ${\pm}15%$ and the amount of the methanol crossed over in our direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) was less than the methanol diffused to PEM. The methanol concentration in the PEM of the DMFC operated at different current densities were equivalent.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.271-279
• /
• 2014

A 25kW-class polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system has been developed for the propulsion of a leisure boat. The fuel cell system was designed to satisfy various performance requirements, such as resistance to shock, stability under rolling and pitching oscillations, and durability under salinity condition, for its marine applications. Then, the major components including a 30kW-class PEM fuel cell stack, a DC-DC converter, a seawater cooling system, secondary battery packs, and balance of plants were developed for the fuel cell system. The PEM fuel cell stack employs a unique design structure called an anodic cascade-type stack design in which the anodic cells are divided into several blocks to maximize the fuel utilization without hydrogen recirculation devices. The performance evaluation results showed that the stack generated a maximum power of 31.0kW while maintaining a higher fuel utilization of 99.5% and an electrical efficiency of 56.1%. Combining the 30-kW stack with other components, the 25kW-class fuel cell system boat was fabricated for a leisure. As a result of testing, the fuel cell system reached an electrical efficiency of 48.0% at the maximum power of 25.6kW with stable operability. In the near future, two PEM fuel cell systems will be installed in a 20-m long leisure boat to supply electrical power up to 50kW for propelling the boat and for powering the auxiliary equipments.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.554-557
• /
• 2005

The bipolar plate is a major component of the PEM fuel cell stack, which takes a large portion of stack cost. In this study, as alternative materials for bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells, graphite composites were fabricated by compression molding. Graphite particles mixed with epoxy resin were used as the main substance to provide electric conductivity. To achieve desired electric properties, specimens made with different mixing ratio, processing pressure and temperature were tested. To increase mechanical strength, one or two layer of woven carbon fabric were added to the original graphite and resin composite. Thus, the composite material is consisted of the three phases: graphite particles, epoxy resin, and carbon fabric. By increasing mixing ratio, fabricated pressure and process temperature, electric conductivity was improved. The results of tensile test showed that the tensile strength of two-phase graphite composite was about 5MPa, and that of three-phase composite was increased to 54MPa.