• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.231-238
• /
• 2006

The performance of free-breathing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was studied experimentally and the effect of cathode separator structure on the cell performance was investigated. Cathode separators were used for the cell with $18cm^2$ active area. In channel type, the contact resistance is low, and the nature convection. which is strongly affected by the cross-sectional shape of cathode separator channel, is dominant in a cell performance. The maximum power density with $18cm^2$ active area is $105mW/cm^2$ using the 10mm depth and 2mm width channel. A computational analysis was optimum structure of free-breathing channel type PEMFC for robotic application.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1999.07d
• /
• pp.1876-1878
• /
• 1999

Developed was a 5kW-class polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) system comprised of fuel cell stack, fuel processing, thermal and water management subsystems and ancillary equipments. Several large single cells have been fabricated with different gas flow field patterns and paths, and the gas flow field pattern for the stack has been determined based on the single cell performance of thin film membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The PEMFC stack was consisted of 100 cells with an electrode area of $300cm^2$, having serpentine flow pattern. Fuel processing was developed including an autothermal methanol reformer and two preferential CO oxidation reactors. The fuel processing was combined to PEMFC operation system consisted of air compressor and thermal and water management subsystems. The PEMFC stack showed performance of 5kW under the supply of $H_2$ and air, but its performance was lowered to 3.5kW under the supply of reformed gas.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.386-392
• /
• 2014

The effective water management in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the key strategies for improving cell performance and durability. In this work, an ex situ measurement was carried out to understand the water droplet behavior on the surface of gas diffusion layer (GDL) as a fundamental study for establishing novel water management. For that purpose, simplified cell including one rib and two flow channels was designed and fabricated. Using this ex situ device, the water droplet emergence through the GDL of the PEMFC was emulated to understand liquid water transport through the porous diffusion medium. Through the visualization experiment, the emergence and growth of water droplets at the channel/GDL interface are mainly observed with the surface characteristics of GDL (SGL 10BA, 24BA) and rib when the liquid water passes through the GDL and is expelled to the flow channel. It is expected that the results obtained from this study can contribute to the better understanding on the water droplet behavior (emergence and removal) in the flow channels of PEMFC.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.120-130
• /
• 2023

PEMFC has high potential for future development due to its high energy density, eco-friendliness, and high energy efficiency. When it becomes small, light and flexible, it can be competitive as an energy source for portable devices or flexible electronic devices. However, the use of hard and heavy materials for structural rigidity and uniform contact pressure transmission has become an obstacle to reducing the weight and flexibility of PEMFCs. This review intends to provide an example of the application of a new structure and material for lightweight and flexibility. As a lightweight PEMFC, a tubular design is presented and structural advantages through numerical modeling are explained. Manufacturing methods to realize the structural advantages and possibilities of tubular PEMFCs are discussed. In addition, the materials and manufacturing processes used to fabricate lightweight and flexible PEMFCs are described and factors affecting performance are analyzed. Strategies and structural improvements of light and flexible movements are discussed according to the component parts.

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2003.07a
• /
• pp.169-171
• /
• 2003

Organic/inorganic hybrid membranes have been prepared and evaluated as polymer electrolytes in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Previously, partially fluorinated poly (arylenether) was synthesized and the polymer was sulfonated by fuming sulfuric acid$(30\%\;SO_3)$. Modification of these polymers with coupling agent and inorganic materials was carried out to prepare membranes. Membranes cast from these materials were investigated in relation to the proton conductivity and weight loss at the room temperature. It was found that these membranes had a higher conductivity of $10^{-2}\;Scm^{-1}$ at the room temperature. But inorganic materials have leaked out from the hybrid membrane. If this problem is resolved, organic/inorganic hybrid membranes will become satisfactory Polymer electrolytes for the PEMFC.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.528-535
• /
• 2017

Fuel cells have been spotlighted in the world for being highly efficient and environmentally friendly. A hydrogen which is the fuel of fuel cell can be obtained from a number of sources. Hydrogen source for operating the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) in the current underwater environment, such as a submarine and unmanned underwater vehicles are currently from the metal hydride cylinder. However, metal hydride has many limitations for using hydrogen carrier, such as large volume, long charging time, limited storage capacity. To solve these problems, we suggest diesel reformer for hydrogen supply source. Diesel fuel has many advantages, such as high hydrogen storage density, easy to transport and also well-infra structure. However, conventional diesel reforming system for PEMFC requires a large volume and complex CO removal system for lowering the CO level to less than 10 ppm. In addition, because the preferential oxidation(PROX) reaction is the strong exothermic reaction, cooling load is required. By changing this PROX reactor to hydrogen separation membrane, the problem from PROX reactor can be solved. This is because hydrogen separation membranes are small and permeable to pure hydrogen. In this study, we conducted the pressurized diesel reforming and water-gas shift reaction experiment for the hydrogen separation membrane application. Then, the hydrogen permeation experiments were performed using a Pd alloy membrane for the reformate gas.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.400-407
• /
• 2011

The stress distribution and stress amplitude of a membrane are major factors to decide the mechanical fatigue life of PEMFC (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell). In this paper, mechanical stresses under operating hygro-thermal condition of the membrane are numerically modelled. Contact analysis between gas diffusion layer (GDL) and the membrane is performed under various temperature-humidity conditions. The structural model has nonlinear material properties depending on temperature and relative humidity. Several geometric conditions are applied to the model. The numerical analysis results indicate that deformations of the membrane are strongly related with assembly conditions of the fuel cell. The fatigue life is predicted for practical operating condition through experimental data.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.32 no.5
• /
• pp.324-330
• /
• 2021

In recent years, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) based cogeneration system has received more and more attention from energy researchers because beside electricity, the system also meets the residential thermal demand. However, the low-quality heat exited from PEMFC should be increased temperature before direct use or storage. This study proposes a method to utilize the heat exhausted from a 10 kW PEMFC by coupling a heat pump. Two different configuration using heat pump and a reference layout with heater are analyzed in term of thermal and total efficiency. The system coefficient of performance (COP) increases from 0.87 in layout with heaters to 1.26 and 1.29 in configuration with heat pump and cascade heat pump, respectively. Lastly, based on system performance result, another study in economics point of view is proposed.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2006.06a
• /
• pp.107-109
• /
• 2006

This study focuses on a determination of amount of Pt in the Pt/C for catalysts of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). PEMFC offer low weight and high power density and being considered for automotive and stationary power applications. The PEMFC performance is influenced by several factors, including catalysts and structure of electrode and membrane type. Catalyst of electrode is important factor for PEMFC. One of the obstacles prevent ing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells from commercialization is the high cost of noble metals to be used as catalyst, such as platinum To effectively use these metals, they have to be will dispersed to small particles on conductive carbon supports. The optimal amount of Pt in Pt/C for cathode catalyst was investigated by using polarization curves in single cell with $H_2/O_2$ operation.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.604-611
• /
• 2012

For the commercialization of fuel cell powered vehicle, it is highly important to improve the performance and efficiency of an automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The performance and efficiency of PEMFC systems are significantly influenced by their operating conditions. Among these conditions, the system operating pressure is considered as the one of the main factors. In this study, to investigate the effects of operating pressure on the performance and efficiency of automotive PEMFC systems, two types of high-pressure operating PEMFC systems adopting two different compressors (i. e. different performance maps) are modeled by using MATLAB/Simulink environment. The PEMFC system efficiency and parasitic compressor power are mainly analyzed and compared for the two types of high-pressure operating PEMFC systems under the same system net power conditions. It is expected that this kind of study can contribute to provide basic insight into the operating strategies of high-pressure operating PEMFC systems for automotive use.