• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2018

In this study the performance and humidity variation for 2 unit cells connected in series were experimentally measured. The relative flow direction of hydrogen and air was changed from parallel flow to counter flow. Internal humidity distribution was then measured by 5 embedded sensors on each channel. In all experimental conditions, the former unit cell showed a better performance and the gap is noted to be higher when counter flow is applied. The performance was noted to be higher at high humidification case in the parallel flow. However, in the counter flow, the difference of performance according to the humidification is negligible. Hydrogen and air are discharged from the PEMFC unsaturated with water vapor at parallel flow/low humidification condition, which explains lower performance of the PEMFC than other conditions. The humidities in hydrogen and air streams of counter flow were noted to increase rapidly even at low humidification condition and the consequential even hydration of membrane is the reason of higher performance.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2009

In this paper, transient voltage response of Polmer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) stack is analyzed and voltage dynamic characteristic is modeled for optimal design of power conditioning system (PCS). According that the load is changed, the corresponding operating voltage of fuel cell stack is also varied with a certain deep and rising time due to the chemical and mechanical responses. This transient behavior can affect on the operation with respect of PI gain in controller, duty ratio, capacitor of capacitor and so on. So in this paper the detailed theoretical analysis of transient voltage dynamics is explained and the methodology of dynamic modeling is introduced. In addition, the validity and feasibility of the proposed dynamic model is verified by experimental results under various load conditions.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.184-192
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• 2010

PEM fuel cell produces electric power, water and heat by the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. The heating value is dependent on the molar enthalpy of vaporization of product water and the performance loss. In this paper, the heating value of fuel cell stack has been studied under various stack operating temperatures to achieve more efficient heat management. A technology using the molar enthalpy of vaporization of product water is suggested to reduce heat-up time during start-up of a fuel cell vehicle.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.2589-2593
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• 2008

In a fuel cell vehicle using polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell(PEMFC), hydrogen is over-supplied to gain higher stack efficiency. So it is needed considering fuel efficiency to re-circulate hydrogen which is not reacted in stack. And to re-circulate hydrogen, a blower or an ejector is used. Ejector re-circulation system has several merits compared with blower system, for example no parasite energy, simple structure and no lubrication system. But the secondary flow of an ejector in fuel cell vehicle, has high humidity because of crossover problem in stack. Therefore in this paper, ejector is designed by 1-D modeling and CFD with the primary and secondary flow of hydrogen. And the ejector which has the primary and secondary flow of air, is designed to have the same Reynolds number and Mach number at the nozzle exit as the hydrogen ejector's. And this air ejector is tested while the humidity of the secondary flow is varied.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.23 no.8
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• pp.48-56
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• 2009

This paper presents the power conversion system for TIG-welder using the fuel cell stack Generally, power supply for TIG-welder uses the front-ended diode bridge rectifier by common AC power source. In this case, power supply of TIG-welder increases in volume because of using bulky capacitor and diode-rectifier. Also, input current includes ripple and harmonics. Moreover, TIG-welder will be demand the power supply with lightweight and easy movement in the areas like as the islands and mountainous areas or the special environment are not use common AC power source. Thus, input power of the power conversion system for TIG-welder is used PEMFC(Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell), and the power conversion system is comprised of full-bridge converter with function of boost converter and inverter welding source, in this paper. The proposed power conversion system which is power supply for TIG-welder was verified by computer simulations and experiments.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.224-231
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• 2009

The improvement of cold start capability is one of the most challenging tasks to be solved for commercialization of fuel cell vehicle. In this study, cold start test and ice blocking test(IBT) of fuel cell stack were carried out under various operating conditions. This fuel cell stack can be thawed from -20$^{\circ}$C within 25s and the voltage change was found to be comprised of 4 steps; the first step is the voltage decrease by overpotential, the second step is the voltage increase by the cell temperature increase, the third step is the voltage decrease by ice blocking, and the last step is the voltage increase by thawing. Bootstrap startup was failed after shutdown at temperature under 40$^{\circ}$C because of much condensed water in the fuel cell. Quantitative estimation of cold start capability have been demonstrated by ice blocking test(IBT). In the results, it was found that cold start capability was improved double every 10$^{\circ}$C from 30$^{\circ}$C to 65$^{\circ}$C and enhanced by 30% at the condition of SR 3/4 compared to SR 1.5/2.0 and enhanced by 20% with dry purge condition compared to with RH 50% purge condition.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.323-329
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• 2012

A thermal management system of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is taken charge of controlling the temperature of fuel cell stack by rejection of electrochemically reacted heat. Two major components of thermal management system are heat exchanger and pump which determines required amount of heat. Since the performance and durability of PEMFC system is sensitive to the operating temperature and temperature distribution inside the stack, it is necessary to control the thermal management system properly under guidance of operating strategy. The control study of the thermal management system is able to be boosted up with hardware in the loop simulation which directly connects the plant simulation with real hardware components. In this study, the plant simulation of fuel cell stack has been developed and the simulation model is connected with virtual data acquisition system. And HIL simulator has been developed to control the coolant supply system for the study of PEMFC thermal management system. The virtual data acquisition system and the HIL simulator are developed under LabVIEWTM Platform and the Simulation interface toolkit integrates the fuel cell plant simulator with the virtual DAQ display and HIL simulator.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.13-21
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• 2016

In this paper we are trying to explain the effect of temperature on polymer membrane exchange water electrolysis (PEMWE) and polymer membrane exchange fuel cell (PEMFC) simultaneously. A comprehensive studying approach is proposed and applied to a 50Watt PEM fuel cell system in the laboratory. The monitoring process is carried out through wireless LoRa node and gateway network concept. In this experiment, temperature sensor measure the temperature level of electrolyzer, fuel cell stack and $H_2$ storage tank and transmitted the measured value of data to the management control unit (MCU) through the individual node and gateway of each PEMWE and PEMFC. In MCU we can monitor the temperature and its effect on the performance of the fuel cell system and control it to keep the lower heating value to increase the efficiency of the fuel cell system. And we also proposed a mathematical model and operation algorithm for PEMWE and PEMFC. In this model, PEMWE gives higher efficiency at lower heating level where as PEMFC gives higher efficiency at higher heating value. In order to increase the performance of the fuel cell system, we are going to monitor, communicate and control the temperature and pressure of PEMWE and PEMFC by installing these systems in a building of university which is located in the southern part of Korea.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 2010

A PEMFC(proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is a good candidate for residential power generation to be coped with the shortage of fossil fuel and green house gas emission. The attractive benefit of the PEMFC is to produce electric power as well as hot water for home usage. The thermal management of PEMFC for RPG is to utilize the heat of PEMFC so that the PEMFC can be operated at its optimal efficiency. In this study, thermal management system of PEMFC stack is modeled to understand the dynamic response during load change. The thermal management system of PEMFC for RPGFC is composed of two cooling circuits, one for controling the fuel cell temperature and the other for heating up the water for home usage. The different operating strategy is applied for each cooling circuit considering the duty of those two circuits. Even though the capacity of PEMFC system (1kW) is enough to supply hot domestic water for residence, heat-up of reservior takes some hours. Therefore, in this study, time schedule of the simulation reflects the heat-up process. Dynamic responses and operating strategies of the PEMFC system are investigated during load changes.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2003-2008
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• 2007

The transient power characteristics of a PEM fuel cell stack was experimentally studied using a commercial 1.2kW PEM fuel cell ($Nexa^{TM}$ Power Module, Ballard Power System Inc.). The conditions in PEM fuel cell stack such as temperature and water content change rather slowly because of their large heat capacity and long channel length, which results in long transient time to converge to a steady state. The steady characteristics of the PEM fuel cell module was determined first, followed by the measurement of its transient characteristics upon stepwise and continuous load current changes. During the stepwise current change from 5A to 25A, the output voltage initially decreased below the steady voltage and then increased gradually. Similar behavior was also observed for the stepwise current change from 25A to 5A. This transient behavior is explained with reference to the evolution of the temperature and water content of the PEM fuel cell stack.