• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.271-279
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• 2014

A 25kW-class polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system has been developed for the propulsion of a leisure boat. The fuel cell system was designed to satisfy various performance requirements, such as resistance to shock, stability under rolling and pitching oscillations, and durability under salinity condition, for its marine applications. Then, the major components including a 30kW-class PEM fuel cell stack, a DC-DC converter, a seawater cooling system, secondary battery packs, and balance of plants were developed for the fuel cell system. The PEM fuel cell stack employs a unique design structure called an anodic cascade-type stack design in which the anodic cells are divided into several blocks to maximize the fuel utilization without hydrogen recirculation devices. The performance evaluation results showed that the stack generated a maximum power of 31.0kW while maintaining a higher fuel utilization of 99.5% and an electrical efficiency of 56.1%. Combining the 30-kW stack with other components, the 25kW-class fuel cell system boat was fabricated for a leisure. As a result of testing, the fuel cell system reached an electrical efficiency of 48.0% at the maximum power of 25.6kW with stable operability. In the near future, two PEM fuel cell systems will be installed in a 20-m long leisure boat to supply electrical power up to 50kW for propelling the boat and for powering the auxiliary equipments.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 2008.04a
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• pp.101-108
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• 2008

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising power generation devices which are ideal for residential and automobile applications, thanks to their fast transient characteristics. However, liquid water produced in PEM fuel cells should be properly managed to enhance the performances and durabilities of the cells. In this study, a visualization experiment was conducted to investigate the flow behavior of water droplets in cathode channels. The visualization experiment was done with four different model flow channels which were made by varying the material (Acrylic and Teflon) and the channel width (1 mm and 2 mm). Acrylic is hydrophilic (contact angle is about $80^{\circ}$) while Teflon is hydrophobic (contact angle is about $120^{\circ}$). A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was also performed to compare the observed and the simulated two-phase water/air flow characteristics in cathode channels. The computational models were made to be consistent with the geometries and surface properties of the model flow channels. Both the experimental and numerical results showed that the Teflon cathode channel with 1 mm width has the best water management performance among four model flow channels considered. A close correlation was found between the experimental visualization results and the numerical CFD simulation results.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2016

Fuel cells are regarded as a representative energy source expected to replace fossil fuels particularly used in internal combustion engines. One of the most important components is polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) acting as a proton conducting barrier to prevent fuel gas crossover. Since water channels act as proton pathways through PEMs, many researchers have been focused on the 'good phase-separation of hydrophilic moiety' which ensures high water retention under low humidity enough to keep the water channel for good proton conduction. Here, we summarized the strategies which have been adopted to synthesize sulfonated PEMs having high proton conductivities even under low humidified conditions, and hope this review will be helpful to design high performance hydrocarbon PEMs.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.33-38
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• 2019

In order to invigoration the hydrogen economy, production of hydrogen needed for hydrogen charging stations and hydrogen fuel cells is needed. Generally, it is reforming used to coal fuel or natural gas. Other technologies include water electrolysis using pure water. Among these water electrolysis technologies, development is mainly carried out using PEM(Polymer Electrolyte Membrane electrolysis). In this study, the company aims to identify potential harmful hazards to PEM electrolysis hydrogen stations in the development stage among hydrogen charging stations. In order to find the hazardous factors in the facilities of the electrolysis and hydrogen charging stations, we were analyzed by Failure Mode & Effect Analysis(FMEA).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.39-46
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• 2006

The fuel cell is one of promising environment-friendly energy sources for the next generation. The bipolar plate is a major component of the PEM fuel cell stack, which takes a large portion of stack cost. In this study, as alternative materials for bipolar plate of PEM fuel cells, graphite composites were fabricated by compression molding. Graphite particles mixed with epoxy resin were used as the main substance to provide electric conductivity To achieve desired electrical properties, specimens made with different mixing ratio, processing pressure and temperature were tested. To increase mechanical strength, one or two layers of woven carbon fabric were added to the graphite and resin composite. Thus, the composite material was consisted of three phases: graphite particles, carbon fabric, and epoxy resin. By increasing mixing ratio of graphite, fabricated pressure and process temperature, the electric conductivity of the composite was improved. The results of tensile test showed that the tensile strength of the two-phase graphite composite was about 4MPa, and that of three-phase composite was increased to 57MPa. As surface properties, contact an91e and surface roughness were tested. Graphite composites showed contact angles higher than $90^{\circ}$, which mean low surface energy. The average surface roughness of the composite specimens was $0.96{\mu}m$.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.128-135
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• 2011

일반적으로 PEM 연료전지에서는 수분 균형이 시스템의 효율에 결정적으로 영향을 미치기 때문에, 이에 대한 균형(balance)을 잡는 것이 매우 중요하다. 특히, 촉매 층에서 물이 넘치는 익수현상(flooding)이나 건조현상(drying)이 발생하게 되면 연료전지의 효율이 급격하게 저하하므로, 항상 수분의 균형이 잡히도록 시스템을 제어하는 것이 일반적이다. 이 때,수분의 익수현상이나 건조현상은 PEM 연료전지의 용량과 주위의 환경, 즉 온도와 습도에 많은 영향을 받게 된다. 금번 논문에서는 가정용 규모인 3kW급에서 10kW급까지의 PEM 연료전지를 설치하였을 때, 주위의 환경(온도와 습도)이 수분 이동에 어떠한 영향을 미치는 지를 시간에 따라서 시뮬레이션(simulation)한 결과를 보여주고 있다. 결과에서 유입공기의 온도가 $50^{\circ}C$ 이하일 경우, 고정부하가 5kW급 이하이면 대부분이 건조현상이 발생하였으나, 고정부하가 6kW급 이상이 되면 익수현상이 운전시간이 20분 이내에서 발생하였다. 또한 고정부하를 최고 10kW급까지 올린 경우, 유입공기의 온도가 $50^{\circ}C$까지는 익수현상이 발생하였으나 $60^{\circ}C$ 이상인 경우에는 거의 건조현상이 발생함을 알 수 있었다.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.11a
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• pp.93-96
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• 2009

In the cathode channel of a PEM fuel cell, the local concentration of oxygen near the gas diffusion layer (GDL) decreases in streamwise direction due to chemical reactions, which degrades the efficiency of the oxygen consumption and overall fuel cell efficiency. We numerically studied the influence of the swirling flow generated by a slanted groove mixer (SGM) on the concentration distribution of oxygen. We found that the swirling flow can increase the concentration of oxygen near the GDL, and subsequently improves the oxygen consumption rate.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.353-356
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• 2005

We developed a dynamic model of PEM fuel cell system which can analyze its transient response to dynamic load current. System components such as compressor, air cooler, humidifier, and stack were modeled based on their dynamic equations and performance maps by using Matlab Simulink platform. Through this simulation model, dynamic characteristics of fuel cell system including oxygen excess rat io, stack voltage, and system efficiency were shown. In addition to that, we briefly analyzed the humidity effect on cathode pressure and system efficiency, expecting that this model can be further used to optimize fuel cell system parameters just like operating pressure and temperature, humidity and oxygen excess ratio.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.558-559
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• 2008

본 논문은 미 일리노이 주립대 어바나-샴페인 캠퍼스에서 주로 군사용 응용 관련하여 개발 중인 마이크로 PEM 연료전지 시스템 개발에 대한 논문이다. 본 연구는 수소 저장 장치까지 포함하여 1 $mm^3$의 초소형 연료전지 시스템을 목표로 진행 중이며 본 논문은 이러한 진행 과정 중 화학적 하이드라이드 기반의 수소 발생기와 10 $mm^3$의 시스템 개발 과정에 대해 보고한다.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.1132_1133
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• 2009

In this paper, a observer-based PI controller will be developed for PEM fuel cell system. Nonlinear model of PEM fuel cell system is introduced to study the controller design problems. Sliding mode observer will be designed to estimate the cathode and anode pressures of PEMFC system. And a nonlinear state observer is also designed to estimate the other states such as supply manifold pressure, Oxygen pressure, Hydrogen pressure, return manifold pressure, etc. These estimated states are used to design the observer-based PI controller. The validity of the proposed controller will be verified by using computer simulation.