• Journal of Power Electronics
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.194-201
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• 2011

The air flow supplied to a fuel cell system is one of the most significant factors in determining fuel efficiency. The conventional method of controlling the air flow is to fix the oxygen supply at an estimated constant rate for optimal efficiency. However, the actual optimal point can deviated from the pre-set value due to temperature, load conditions and so on. In this paper, the maximum efficiency point tracking (MEPT) algorithm is proposed for finding the optimal air supply rate in real time to maximize the net-power generation of fuel cell systems. The fixed step MEPT algorithm has slow dynamics, thus it affects the overall efficiency. As a result, the variable step MEPT algorithm is proposed to compensate for this problem instead of a fixed one. The complete small signal model of a PEM Fuel cell system is developed to perform a stability analysis and to present a design guideline. For a design example, a 1kW PEM fuel cell system with a DSP 56F807 (Motorola Inc) was built and tested using the proposed MEPT algorithm. This control algorithm is very effective for a soft current change load like a grid connected system or a hybrid electric vehicle system with a secondary energy source.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• 제17권9호
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• pp.1358-1370
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• 2003

The effects of anode, cathode, and cooling channels for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) on flow fields have been investigated numerically. Continuous open-faced fluid flow channels formed in the surface of the bipolar plates traverse the central area of the plate surface in a plurality of passes such as a serpentine manner. The pressure distributions and velocity profiles of the hydrogen, air and water channels on bipolar plates of the PEMFC are analyzed using a two-dimensional simulation. The conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy in the three-dimensional flow solver are modified to include electro-chemical characteristics of the fuel cell. In our three-dimensional numerical simulations, the operation of electro-chemical in Membrane Electrolyte Assembly (MEA) is assumed to be steady-state, involving multi-species. Supplied gases are consumed by chemical reaction. The distributions of oxygen and hydrogen concentration with constant humidity are calculated. The concentration of hydrogen is the highest at the center region of the active area, while the concentration of oxygen is the highest at the inlet region. The flow and thermal profiles are evaluated to determine the flow patterns of gas supplied and cooling plates for an optimal fuel cell stack design.

• 한국수소및신에너지학회논문집
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• 제29권5호
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• pp.442-449
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• 2018

Research on High temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) has actively been conducted all over the world. Since the HT-PEMFC can be operated at a high temperature of $120-180^{\circ}C$ using phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) electrolyte membrane, it has considerable advantages over conventional PEMFC in terms of operating conditions and system efficiency. However, If the thermal distribution is not uniform in the stack unit, degradation due to local reaction and deterioration of lifetime are difficult to prevent. The thin plate separator reduces the volume of the fuel cell stack and improves heat transfer, consequently, enhancing the cooling effect. In this paper, a large area flow field of thin plate separator for HT-PEMFC is designed and sub-stack is fabricated. We have studied stack performance evaluation under various operating conditions and it has been verified that the proposed design can achieve acceptable stack performance at a wide operating range.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.38-50
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• 2023

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a portable and clean power generation device. The structural arrangement of the flow field has a significant influence on the delivery efficiency of PEMFC. In this article, a new bionic flow channel is designed based on the inspiration of a spider shape. The branch channel width and branch corner are studied as the focus, and its simulation is carried out by the method of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results show that when channel width/rib width and corner of the branch are 1.5 and 130° , respectively, it is the best numerical combination and the cell comprehensive performance is excellent. The final model using this numerical combination is compared with the traditional flow channel model to verify the advancement of this scheme.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국신재생에너지학회 2005년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.260-263
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• 2005

The effects of internal manifold designs the reactant feed-stream in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs) is studied to figure out mass flow-distribution patterns over an entire fuel cell stack domain. Reactants flows are modeled either laminar or turbulent depending on regions and the open channels in the bipolar plates are simulated by porous media where permeability should be pre-determined for computational analysis. In this work, numerical models for reactant feed-stream in the PEFC manifolds are classified into two major flow patterns: Z-shape and U-shape. Several types of manifold geometries are analyzed to find the optimal manifold configurations. The effect of heat generation in PEFC on the flow distribution is also investigated applying a simplified heat transfer model in the stack level (i.e. multi-cell electrochemical power-generation unit). This modeling technique is well suited for many large scale problems and this scheme can be used not only to account for the manifold flow pattern but also to obtain information on the optimal design and operation of a PEMC system.

• 신재생에너지
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.41-52
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• 2005

The effects of internal manifold designs on the reactants feed-stream in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells [PEFCs] is studied to figure out flow and thermal distribution patterns over an entire fuel cell stack. Reactants flows are modeled either laminar of turbulent depending on regions and the open channels in the bipolar plates are simulated by porous media where permeability should be pre-deter-mined for computational analysis. In this work, numerical models for reactants feed-stream In the PEFC manifolds are classified Into two major flow patterns: Z-shape and U-shape. Several types of manifold geometries are analyzed to find the optimal manifold configurations. The effect of heat generation in PEFC on the flow distribution is also Investigated applying a simplified heat transfer model in the stack level (i.e. multi-cell electrochemical power-generation unit). This modeling technique Is well suited for many large scale problems and this scheme can be used not only to account for the manifold flow pattern but also to obtain Information on the optimal design and operation of PEFC systems.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.119-126
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• 2007

Because of the low temperature operation, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell has a water phase transition. Therefore, water management is an important operation issue in a PEM fuel cell because the liquid water in the fuel cell causes electrode flooding that can lower the cell performance under high current density conditions. In this study, in order to understand the reactant distributions in the cathode channels of the PEM fuel cell, an experimental technique that can measure the species concentrations of reactant gases by using gas chromatograph (GC) is applied for an operating PEM fuel cell. The oxygen distribution along the cathode flow channels of PEM fuel cell is mainly investigated with various operating conditions. Also, the relations between cathode flooding and oxygen concentrations and oxygen consumption pattern along the cathode channel configurations of the unit cell adopted for this study are discussed using GC measurement and visualization experiment of cathode flooding. It is found that the amount of oxygen consumption is very sensitive to various operating conditions of the fuel cell and was much affected by the flooding occurrence in cathode channels.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.143-151
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• 2008

This paper presents the operation of Fuel Cell Distributed Generation(FCDG) systems in distribution systems. Hence, modeling, controller design, and simulation study of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell(SOFC) distributed generation(DG) system are investigated. The physical model of the fuel cell stack and dynamic models of power conditioning units are described. Then, suitable control architecture based on fuzzy logic and the neural network for the overall system is presented in order to activate power control and power quality improvement. A MATLAB/Simulink simulation model is developed for the SOFC DG system by combining the individual component models and the controllers designed for the power conditioning units. Simulation results are given to show the overall system performance including active power control and voltage regulation capability of the distribution system.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국전산유체공학회 2008년도 춘계학술대회논문집
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• pp.280-283
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• 2008

This study is concerned with development of air supply system in 250kW MCFC fuel cell system. The turbo blower is decided as an air supply system to increase the efficiency of fuel cell system. The turbo blower consists of an impeller, two vaneless diffuser, a vaned diffuser and a volute. The cascade diffuser is used to raise the efficiency of turbo blower. An aerodynamic design was done by applying the repeating design procedure including a meanline design, a 3D geometry generation and fluid dynamic calculation. It is confirmed from meanline and 3D flow analysis results that the operating range is enough and design requirements are successfully achieved. The performance test results were also included in this paper.

• 한국공작기계학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국공작기계학회 2003년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.14-18
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• 2003

Feul-cell system consists of fuel reformer, stack and energy translator. Among these parts, slack is a core part which produces electricity directly. In order to set a stack module, fabrication of appropriate stack, design of water flow path in stack, and control of coolant are needed. Especially, water or air is used as a coolant to dissipate heat. The different temperature of each electric cells after cooling and the high temperature of the stack affect the performance of the stack, Therefore, it is necessary that the relationship between coolant, healing rate, width of slack, properties of stack, and the shape of water flow path must be understood. For the optimal design, the computational simulation by CFD-ACE has been conducted and the resulting database has been constructed.