• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.225-231
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• 2014

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) and bioelectrochemical systems are novel bioprocesses which employ exoelectrogenic biofilm on electrode as a biocatalyst for electricity generation and various useful chemical production. Previous reports show that electrogenic biofilms of MFCs are time varying systems and dynamically interactive with the electrically conductive media (carbon paper as terminal electron acceptor). It has been reported that maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method can automatically control load by algorithm so that increase power generation and columbic efficiency. In this study, we developed logic based control strategy for external load resistance by using $LabVIEW^{TM}$ which increases the power production with using flat-plate MFCs and MPPT circuit board. The flat-plate MFCs inoculated with anaerobic digester sludge were stabilized with fixed external resistance from $1000{\Omega}$ to $100{\Omega}$. Automatic load control with MPPT started load from $52{\Omega}$ during 120 hours of operation. MPPT control strategy increased approximately 2.7 times of power production and power density (1.95 mW and $13.02mW/m^3$) compared to the initial values before application of MPPT (0.72 mW and $4.79mW/m^3$).

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.229-235
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• 2003

A 50W class MCFC stack was operated in order to test a new design of the circular shaped separator. in the new design, the anode gas was supplied into the stack and was exhausted out of the stack after the anode reaction. The exhausted gas was reacted with the cathode gas supplied with excess oxygen in the vessel in which the stack was placed. Then the reacted gas flowed into the cathode side of the stack and was exhausted through the outlet located in the center of the stack. The average voltage of the single cells in the stack was 0.835V under the current density of $150mA/cm^2$, initially, and the degradation rate of the stack voltage was 1.7%/1,000h. High stack voltage with good stability of the present stack was due to the small temperature gradient in the stack. The small temperature gradient as well as the easiness of temperature control was the result of the new configuration of the separator which utilized the heat of the combustion reaction between anode outlet gas and the cathode inlet gas for heating the stack.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.38-44
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• 2009

Recently, the research focused on fuel cell hybrid vehicles (FCHVs) is becoming an attractive solution due to environmental pollution generated by fossil fuel vehicles. The proper energy control strategy will result in extending the fuel cell lifetime, increasing of energy efficiency and an improvement of vehicle performance. Battery state of charge (SoC) is an important quantity and the estimation of the SoC is also the basis of the energy control strategy for hybrid electric vehicles. Estimating the battery's SoC is complicated by the fact that the SoC depends on many factors such as temperature, battery capacitance and internal resistance. In this paper, battery charging time estimated by SoC is studied by using the speed response and current response. Hybrid system is consist of a fuel cell unit and a battery in series connection. For experiment, speed response of vehicle and current response of battery were determined under different state of charge. As the results, the optimal battery charging time can be estimated. Current response time was faster than RPM response time at low speed and vice versa at high speed.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.24-27
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• 2016

In this study, a 1kW Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC) test system was developed. A SOFC is the most promising power system to provide the higher efficient(over 50%) for house application area(1~10kW). To develop the optimized test system, the temperature control module that controls the preprocess and reaction condition, the flow control module that controls of the mass of reactants, and the electric loader that tests the discharge performance condition, etc. The temperature control module was designed to provide the high control resolution(under $1^{\circ}C$ at $750^{\circ}C$ of operating temperature) using K-type thermal couple. The flow control module was designed control blower and heater precisely using the phase control method. And the electric loader is designed that provide CV, CC, CR discharge mode and minimized the operating error adopting the independent DC-DC converter on analog input and output module. The performance of the developed SOFC test system showed that the accuracy of stack voltage was 0.15% at 80V and stack current was 0.1% at 100A.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.189-190
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• 2014

본 논문에서는 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) 연료전지의 출력을 동기정류 방식의 벅컨버터로 변환하여 2개의 리튬 폴리머 배터리를 충전하기 위한 시스템의 디지털 제어에 관해 논의한다. 배터리의 충전시 중요한 요소인 출력 리플의 제한 조건을 만족시키도록 컨버터를 설계하고, DSP를 이용하여 이중제어 루프를 구성함으로써 충전기를 제어하였다. 컨버터 제작과 리튬전지를 이용한 충전 실험을 통해 제안한 회로와 제어기 설계 방식의 타당성을 검증하였다.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.17-20
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• 2003

This paper presents a high frequency (HF) link current-fed inverter fur fuel cell applications. The circuit topology, operation and control method of the proposed HF link current-fed inverter are presented. The active cancellation technique of the 120Hz input harmonic current is also considered. The simulation results are provided to show the feasibility of the proposed inverter scheme.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1303-1314
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• 2018

To match the dynamic lower voltage of a fuel cell stack and the required constant higher voltage (400V) of a DC bus, an H-type structural Boost three-level DC-DC converter with a wide voltage-gain range (HS-BTL) is presented in this paper. When compared with the traditional flying-capacitor Boost three-level DC-DC converter, the proposed converter can obtain a higher voltage-gain and does not require a complicate control for the flying-capacitor voltage balance. Moreover, the proposed converter, which can draw a continuous and low-rippled current from an input source, has the advantages of a wide voltage-gain range and low voltage stress for power semiconductors. The operating principle, parameters design and a comparison with other converters are presented and analyzed. Experimental results are also given to verify the aforementioned characteristics and theoretical analysis. The proposed converter is suitable for application of fuel cell systems.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.313-321
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• 2008

Dynamics of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell is specially important when the system is frequently working on transient conditions. Even though the dynamics of proton exchange membrane fuel cell for residential power generation is less critical than that of PEMFC for transportation application, the system dynamics of PEMFC for RPG can be very important for daily start-up and stop. In particular, thermal management of the PEMFC for RPG is very important because the heat generation from electrochemical reaction is delivered to the home for hot water usages. Additionally, the thermal management is also very important for heat balance of the system and temperature control of the fuel cell. The objective of this study is to develop a dynamic system model for the study of PEMFC performance over various BOP options. Basic simulation results will be presented.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.144-154
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• 2016

HT-PEMFC (high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell) using PA (phosphoric acid) doped PBI (polybenzimidazole) membrane has been researched for extending the lifetime. However, the existing work on durability of HT-PEMFC focuses on identifying degradation causes of lab scale. The short life time of HT-PEMFC is still the problem for its commercialization. In this paper, an operating method to maximize life time of 5kW HT-PEMFC stack are proposed. The proposed method includes major steps such as minimization of OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) exposure, control of the proper stack temperature, and N2 purging for the stack. This long life operating method was based on the fragmentary results of degradation from previous research works. Experimentally, the 5 kW homemade HT-PEMFC stack was operated for a long time based on the proposed method and the stack successfully can operate within the desired degradation rate for the target life time.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2024

This paper proposes a novel cooling system for hydrogen fuel cell cooling systems by integrating heat pump technology to enhance operational efficiency. The study analyzed the cooling efficiency of the fuel cell cooling system. With the increasing focus on eco-friendly vehicle technologies to address environmental concerns and global warming, the transportation sector, a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, needs technological enhancements for better efficiency. The proposed cooling system was modeled through 1-D simulations. The analysis results of parameters such as thermal balance, temperature, and pressure of each component confirmed the stable operation of the system. By examining variations in the cooling system's flow rate, compressor RPM, and the Coefficient of Performance (COP) based on different refrigerants, initial research was conducted to derive optimal operating conditions and parameter values.