• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.257-265
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• 2001

Placing a hydrogen conducting, methanol impermeable metallic barrier like palladium (Pd) is a well-known method for preventing methanol crossover through solid polymer electrolyte for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC). Applying a bias potential between the anode and the barrier can further develop this concept so that the hydrogen transfer rate is enhanced. Since hydrogen diffuses in Pd as atomic form while it moves through nafion electrolyte as ion, it has to be reduced or oxidized whenever it passes the interface formed by Pd and the electrolyte. We performed experiments to measure the hydrogen transport through the Pd membrane placed in Nafion electrolyte of hydrogen/oxygen fuel cell (PEMFC). Applying a bias potential between the hydrogen electrode of the cell and the Pd membrane facilitated the hydrogen passage through the Pd membrane. The results show that the cell current measured with the Pd membrane placed reached almost 40 % the value measured with the cell without Pd membrane. It was found that the current flown through the bias path is only a few percent of the cell current.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.161-172
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• 2014

Hydrogen, which can be produced from abundant and widely distributed renewable energy resources, seems to be a promising candidate for solving the concerns for improving energy security, urban air pollution, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The two primary motivating factors for hydrogen economy are fossil fuel supply limitations and concerns about global warming. But the safety issues associated with hydrogen economy need to be investigated and fully understood before being considered as a future energy source. Limited operating experience with hydrogen energy systems in consumer environments is recognised as a significant barrier to the implementation of hydrogen economy. To prevent unnecessary restrictions on emerging codes, standards and local regulations, safety policies based on real hazards should be developed. This article studies briefly the direct impact-distances from hazard events such as hydrogen release and jet fire, and damage levels from hydrogen gas explosion in a confined space. Based on the direct impact-distances indicated in the accident scenarios and consumer environments in Korea, the safety policies, which are related to hydrogen filling station, hydrogen fuel cell car, portable fuel cell, domestic fuel cells, and hydrogen town, are suggested to implement hydrogen economy. To apply the safety policies and overcome the disadvantages of prescriptive risk management, which is setting guidance in great detail to management well known risk but is not covering unidentified risk, hybrid risk management model is also proposed.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

This study aims to evaluate the optimal size of the hydrogen facility to be installed in a zero-energy district in terms of load matching and facility efficiency. A mismatch between energy generation and consumption is a common occurrence in zero-energy districts. This mismatch adversely effects the energy grid. However, using an energy carrier such as hydrogen can solve this problem. To determine the optimal size of hydrogen fuel cells to be used on-site, simulation of hydrogen installation is required at both district-and building- levels. Each case had four operating schedules. Therefore, we evaluated eight scenarios in terms of load matching, heat loss, and facility operational efficiency. The results indicate that district-level installation of hydrogen facilities enables more efficient energy use. Additionally, based on the proposed model, we can calculate the optimal size of the hydrogen facility.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.15 no.2 s.46
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• pp.83-95
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• 2006

This study is to establish a national vision of the hydrogen economy and design a roadmap to materialize it. A goal is set to supply 15% of final energy consumption with hydrogen energy in Korea by 2040. Selecting the transportation sorter as the main target, more than 50% of vehicles on the road will be replaced with fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) while $20{\sim}30%$ of electricity demand in the residential and commercial sectors might be replaced with power generation by fuel cells. If this goals were attained as planned, primary energy demand would be reduced by 9%, resulting in improved energy mix in which fossil fuel consumption is greatly reduced whereas renewable energy increases by 47%. Furthermore, GHG emissions will be reduced by 20% and self-sufficiency in energy is enhanced up to 23%. If the hydrogen economy is to materialize, the government needs to implement institutional arrangements such as new legislations, organizations, and fiscal measures to facilitate the process. In addition, the private sector's participation is highly recommended to mobilize fund needed for the huge investment to build an infrastructure in preparation for the hydrogen economy. Arrangements for codes and standards are also required to promote industrialization of fuel cells and hydrogen production and consumption.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.707-714
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• 2022

Hydrogen production using solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOEC) is a promising technology because of its efficiency, cleanness, and scalability. Especially, high-power SOEC system has received a lot of attention from researchers. This study compared and analyzed the low-power and high-power SOEC system in term of economic. By using revenue requirement method, levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) was calculated for comparison. In addition, the sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the dependence of hydrogen cost on input variables. The results indicated that high-power SOEC system is superior to a low-power SOEC system. In the capital cost, the stack cost is dominant in both systems, but the electricity cost is the most contributed factor to the hydrogen cost. If the high-power SOEC system combines with a nuclear power plant, the hydrogen cost can reach 3.65 $/kg when the electricity cost is 3.28 ¢/kWh and the stack cost is assumed to be 574 $/kW.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.392-400
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• 2024

In this study, 3-cell stack fuel cell power technology was developed for charging superconducting coil. It was found that the performance of the fuel cell stack increased depending on the number of activation. In addition, the flow rates of hydrogen and air supplied to 3-cell stack was adjusted because of a large difference in membrane electrode assembly (MEA) characteristics depending on its location. As a result, it was confirmed that it was possible to apply current to the superconducting coil from about 15 to 33 A by changing the variable resistance, and it was confirmed that the voltage difference between fuel cell cells could be overcome through sufficient control of fuel supply.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2022

A series of QPAE/TiO₂-x (x = 1, 4, 7 and 10 wt%) organic/inorganic composite membranes were prepared as electrolyte membranes for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells by controlling the content of inorganic filler with quaternized poly(arylene ether) (QPAE) random copolymer. Among the prepared QPAE/TiO₂-x organic/inorganic composite membranes, the highest ionic conductivity was 26.6 mS cm^-1 at 30℃ in QPAE/TiO₂-7 composite membrane, which was improvement over the ionic conductivity value of 6.4 mS cm^-1 (at 30℃) of the pristine QPAE membrane. Furthermore, the water uptake, swelling ratio, ionic exchange capacity, and thermal property of QPAE/TiO₂-x composite membranes were improved compared to the pristine QPAE membrane. The results of these studies suggest that the fabricated QPAE/TiO₂-x composite membranes have good prospects for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell applications.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.245-255
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• 2021

Various studies about metallic bipolar plates have been conducted to improve fuel cell performance through flow field design optimization. These research works have been mainly focused on fuel cells for vehicle, but not fuel cells for building. In order to reduce the price and volume of fuel cell stacks for building, it is necessary to apply a metallic flow field, In this study, for a metallic flow field applied to a fuel cell for building, the effect of a change in the flow field shape on the performance of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell was confirmed using a model and experiments with a down-sizing single cell. As a result, the flow field using a metal foam outperforms the channel type flow field because it has higher internal differential pressure and higher reactants velocity in gas diffusion layer, resulting in higher water removal and higher oxygen concentration in the catalyst layer than the channel type flow field. This study is expected to contribute to providing basic data for selecting the optimal flow field for the full stack of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells for buildings.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.643-659
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• 2022

For the economic analysis of fuel cells, levelized cost of electricity was calculated according to the type, capacity, and annual production of the fuel cells. The cost of every component was calculated through the system component breakdown. The direct cost of the system included stack cost, component cost, assembly, test, and conditioning cost, and profit markup cost were added. The effect of capacity and annual production was analyzed by fuel cell type. Sensitivity analysis was performed according to stack life, capital cost, project period, and fuel cost. As a result, it was derived how much the economic efficiency of the fuel cell improves as the capacity increases and the annual production increases.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.156-163
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• 2015

The fuel cells have been investigated in the applications of marine as the high efficient and eco-friendly power generating systems. In this study, modeling of IR Type molten carbonate fuel cell (Internal Reforming Type molten carbonate fuel cell) has been developed to analyze the feasibility of thermal energy utilization. The model is developed under Aspen plus and used for the study of system performances over regarding fuel types. The simulation results show that the efficiency of MCFC system based on NG fuel is the highest. Also, it is also verified that the steam reforming is suitable as pre-reforming for diesel fuel.