• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.43 no.5 s.288
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• pp.299-303
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• 2006

In this paper, anode supported SOFC with columnar structured YSZ electrolyte was fabricated via Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition (EBPVD) method. Liquid condensation process was employed for the preparation of NiO-YSZ substrate and the high power electron beam deposition method was used for the deposition of YSZ electrolyte film. Double layered cathode with LSM-YSZ and LSM was printed on electrolyte via screen-printing method and fired at $1150^{\circ}C$ in air atmosphere for 3 h. The electrochemical performance and the long-term stability of $5{\times}5cm^2$ single cell were investigated with DC current-voltage characteristics and AC-impedance spectroscopy. According to the investigation, $5{\times}5cm^2$ sized unit cell showed the maximum power density of around $0.76W/cm^2$ at $800^{\circ}C$ and maintained the stable performance over 400 h.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.567-571
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• 2008

PEM Fuel Cell operation mode can be classified into dead-end mode or open mode by whether the outlet port is blocked or not. Generally, dead-end type fuel cell has some merits on the pressure drop and system efficiency because it can generate more power than the open type fuel cell due to high operating pressure condition. However, the periodic purging process should be done for removing water which is formed as product of a reaction in the gas diffusion layer. In this study, cathode side dead-end type operation has been conducted. Moreover, pulsating flow generator at the outlet of cathode side has been suggested for increasing the period to purge the formed water because the pulsating flow can make formed water scattered uniformly over the whole channel. As a result, the purging period with pulsation increased by 1.5-2 times longer than that without pulsating.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.56-62
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• 2021

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is the high efficiency fuel cell operating at high temperatures ranging from 700-1000℃. Design of the flow paths of the fuel and air in SOFCs is important to improve cell performance and prevent cell degradation. However, the uneven distribution of current density in the traditional type having one inlet and outlet causes cell degradation. In this regard, the parallel flow path with two inlet and outlets was designed and compared to the traditional type based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. To check the cell performance, hydrogen distribution, velocity distribution and current density distribution were monitored. The results validated that the parallel designs with two inlets and outlets have a higher cell performance compared to the traditional design with one inlet and outlet due to a larger reaction area. In case of uniform-type paths, more uniform current density distribution was observed with less cross-sectional variation in flow paths. In case of contracted and expanded inflow paths, significant improvement of performance and uniform current density was not observed compared to uniform parallel path. Considering SOFC cell with uniform current density can prevent cell degradation, more suitable design of SOFC cell with less cross-sectional variation in the flow path should be developed. This work can be helpful to understand the role of flow distribution in the SOFC performance.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.53-63
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• 1995

A 100kW class stack consisting of 10 molten carbonate fuel cells has been fabricated. Internally manifold stack has been tested for endurance. Each cell in the stack had an electrode area of $100cm^2$ and reactant gases were distributed in each cells in a cross-flow configuration. Initial and long term operation performance of the stack was investgated as a function of gas utilization using a specially designed small scale stack test facility. It was possible to have a stack with an output of more than 100W using an anode gas of 72% $H_2/18%$ $CO_2/10%H_2O$ and cathode gas of 33% $O_2/67%$ $CO_2$ and 70% Air 30% $CO_2$. The output and voltage of the stack at a current 15A($150mA/cm^2$) and gas utilization of 0.4 showed 125.8W and 8.39V respectively by elapsed time of 310 hours operation. In long term operation characteristics, the voltage drop of 52.4mV/1000hour was observed after more than 1,840 hours operation. Among the voltage drop, the OCV loss was highest than other voltage loss such as internal resistance and electrode polarization. Non uniformity of 2voltages and degradation of cell voltage in the stack was observed in according to changing the utilization rate after a long term operation. Further work for increasing the performance prolonging the life of the stack are required.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.231-238
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• 2011

In this work, the numerical analysis for the zincate behavior at a zinc electrode with an electrolyte flow was carried out for a ZAFC. The Nernst-Planck equation with a boundary condition of Butler-Volmer type was adopted to describe electrochemical effects of mass transfer, migration, kinetics of electrode. The Navier-Stokes equation, coupling to the Nernst-Planck equation, is also applied to describe the internal electrolyte flow fields. The validity of the numerical model is proved through the comparative analysis between numerical and experimental results. The concentration of zincate and the current density were also investigated at a zinc anode according to various electrolyte velocities. We have found the concentration of zincate decreased and the current density increased with an increase in the electrolyte velocity.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.104-108
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• 2001

Naphthalene derived mesophase pitch WP) was spun into short fibers by using melt-blown technology. The pitch fibers oxidative stabilization were carried out heating rates of $2^{\circ}C/min,\;5^{\circ}C/min\;and\; 10^{\circ}/min$. The heating rate was a key factor to maximate the capacity of the Li-ion secondary battery through controlling the morphology of the graphitized fiber. The diameters of the melt-blown fibers prepared were in the range of $4{\mu}m\~16{\mu}m$ with functions of air jet speed, air temperature and the temperature of the nozzle. The graphitized fibers of $10{\mu}m$ diameters showed various morphological structure with heating rate of the stabilization. Radial, radial-random and skin-core cross-sectional structure of the fibers were observed at the respective heating rate of $2^{\circ}C/min\;5^{\circ}C/min\;and\;10^{\circ}C/min$. Most crystalline structure of graphite was obtained from the fiber stabilized at heating rate of $10^{\circ}C/min$ exhibiting the best anode performance with 400 mAh/g of capacitance and $96.8\%$ of charge/discharge efficiency.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.22 no.3
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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.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.405-412
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• 2012

In the MCFC power generation system, the combustor supplies a high temperature mixture of gases to the cathode and heat to the reformer by using the off-gas from the anode; the off-gas includes high concentrations of $H_2O$ and $CO_2$. Since a combustor needs to be operated in a very lean condition and avoid local heating, a catalytic combustor is usually adopted. Catalytic combustion is also generally accepted as one of the environmentally preferred alternatives for generation of heat and power from fossil fuels because of its complete combustion and low emissions of pollutants such as CO, UHC, and $NO_x$. In this study, experiments were conducted on catalytic combustion behavior in the presence of Pd-based catalysts for the BOP (Balance Of Plant) of 5 kW MCFC (Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell) power generation systems. Extensive investigations were carried out on the catalyst performance with the gaseous $CH_4$ fuel by changing such various parameters as $H_2$ addition, inlet temperature, excess air ratio, space velocity, catalyst type, and start-up schedule of the pilot system adopted in the BOP.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.85-91
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• 2011

Many protection methods such as surface coating, electric protection, or other methods have been applied to the numerous steel structures widely used in continental and marine areas to control their corrosion, which is done from an economic point of view. Most of these steel structures are primarily protected by coating methods. However, some steel piles under seawater are protected by the electric protection method, that is, either using an impressed current or a sacrificial anode method. Furthermore, environmental contamination may cause a severely corrosive environment, which, in turn, causes the accelerated corrosion of steel structures. Subsequently, coated steel structures could deteriorate more rapidly than the designed lifetime because of the acid rain caused by air pollution, etc. Therefore, a coating of marine paint exposed to seawater, that is, underwater hardening painting, is increasingly required to be fast drying as well as highly corrosion resistant. In this study, five types of underwater hardening paints were prepared with different resin series and additives. Their corrosion and water resistances were investigated using electrochemical methods such as corrosion potential, polarization curves, impedance and cyclic voltammogram measurements, etc. Even though it is generally accepted that the corrosion resistance of bare steel tends to increase with a shift of the corrosion potential in the noble direction, the corrosion resistance of a sample with a coating exhibited a relatively better tendency when it had a lower corrosion potential in this study. The corrosion current density was also decreased with a decrease in the diffusion limiting current density, which may mean that there is some relationship between corrosion and water resistance. The S sample of the ceramic resin series showed the relatively best corrosion and water resistance among those of samples, while the worst corrosion and water resistance were observed for the R sample of the epoxy resin series. The corrosion and water resistance of those samples tended to deteriorate with an increase in the immersion days, and their corrosion and water resistances were considered to be apparently improved by the types of resin and additives.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2011

Ni-YSZ (Yttria Stabilized Zirconia) composite powders were fabricated by glycine nitrate process. The prepared powders were sintered at $1300{\sim}1400^{\circ}C$ for 4 h in air and reduced at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 2 h in a nitrogen and hydrogen atmosphere. The microstructure, electrical conductivity, thermal expansion and mechanical properties of the Ni-YSZ cermets have been investigated with respect to the volume contents of Ni. A porous microstructure consisting of homogeneously distributed Ni and YSZ phases together with well-connected grains was observed. It was found that the open porosity, electrical conductivity, thermal expansion and bending strength of the cermets are sensitive to the volume content of Ni. The Ni-YSZ cermet containing 40 vol% Ni was ascertained to be the optimum composition. This composition offers sufficient open porosity of more than 30 %, superior electrical conductivities of 917.4 S/cm at $1000^{\circ}C$ and a moderate average thermal expansion coefficient of $12.6{\times}10^{-6}^{\circ}C^{-1}$ between room temperature and $1000^{\circ}C$.