A parametric study on the performance requirements of key fuel cell components for the realization of high-power automotive fuel cells

The effects of different parameters on the performances of proton exchange membrane fuel cells were studied experimentally. Experiments with different fuel cell temperatures, humidification temperatures and backpressures of reactant gases have been carried out. Polarization curves from experimental data are presented and the effects of the parameters on the performance of the PEM fuel cell are discussed. The experimental data obtained in this work are used to validate our 3-D mathematical model. It is found that modeling results agree well with our experimental data.

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SOFCRoll Development at St. Andrews Fuel Cells Ltd.

Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology ◽

10.1115/1.2713770 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 138-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Fran G. E. Jones ◽

Paul A. Connor ◽

Alan J. Feighery ◽

Julie Nairn ◽

Jim Rennie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Single Unit ◽

Tape Casting ◽

Performance Testing ◽

Production Costs ◽

Cell Components ◽

And Performance ◽

The University ◽

Power Densities

St. Andrews Fuel Cells Ltd. is a spin-off company (formed in February 2005) from the University of St. Andrews. The company’s focus is on the development of the SOFCRoll fuel cell. The SOFCRoll design is produced from tape casting and is fired in a single unit, offering reduced fuel cell production costs. Additionally, the self-supporting nature of the SOFCRoll geometry removes the need for thick cell components, further reducing cell cost and offering increased power densities. This paper reviews the development of the SOFCRoll concerning the processing and performance testing.

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Parametric Study of the Combined Fuel Cell-Gas Turbine Power Plant

Volume 4: Cycle Innovations; Electric Power; Industrial and Cogeneration; Manufacturing Materials and Metallurgy ◽

10.1115/gt2006-90607 ◽

2006 ◽

Author(s):

F. S. Bhinder ◽

Munzer S. Y. Ebaid ◽

Moh’d Yazid F. Mustafa ◽

Raj K. Calay ◽

Mohammed H. Kailani

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Power Plant ◽

Gas Turbine ◽

Electrical Power Generation ◽

Parametric Study ◽

Large Scale ◽

Electrical Power ◽

Gas Turbine Power Plant

Large scale electrical power generation faces two serious problems: (i) energy conservation; and (ii) protection of the environment. High temperatures fuel cells have the potential to deal with both problems. The heat rejected by the fuel cell that would otherwise be wasted may be recovered to power a gas turbine in order to improve the energy conversion efficiency as well as power output of the combined fuel cell-gas turbine power plant. The added advantage of this approach would be to reduce thermal loading and the emission of greenhouse gases per MW electrical power generated. Serious research is being carried out worldwide to commercialise the fuel cell nevertheless there is still ample scope for studying the application of high temperature fuel cells in combination with the gas turbine for large scale electrical power generation. This paper presents the results of a parametric study of the fuel cell-gas turbine power plant to generate electricity. The paper should be of considerable interest to the designers and applications engineers working in power generation industry and other public utilities. The authors hope that the paper would lead to a stimulating discussion.

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A low-loading Ru-rich anode catalyst for high-power anion exchange membrane fuel cells

Chemical Communications ◽

10.1039/d0cc00008f ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 56 (42) ◽

pp. 5669-5672

Author(s):

Zhanna Tatus-Portnoy ◽

Anna Kitayev ◽

Thazhe Veettil Vineesh ◽

Ervin Tal-Gutelmacher ◽

Miles Page ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Anion Exchange ◽

Power Density ◽

High Power ◽

Peak Power ◽

Anion Exchange Membrane ◽

Anode Catalyst ◽

Peak Power Density ◽

Exchange Membrane

Herein, we report a Ru-rich anode catalyst for alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells. At 80 °C, a fuel cell with a RuPdIr/C anode and Ag based cathode attained a peak power density close to 1 W cm−2 with 0.2 mg cm−2 anode loading in comparison to 0.77 W cm−2 for the cell tested with the same metal loading of Pt.

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Effects of Freezing and Thawing on the Structures of Porous Gas Diffusion Media

ASME 5th International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels, and Minichannels ◽

10.1115/icnmm2007-30044 ◽

2007 ◽

Author(s):

Joaquin A. Pelaez ◽

Satish G. Kandlikar

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Active Surface ◽

Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽

Gas Diffusion ◽

Membrane Electrode ◽

Active Surface Area ◽

Freezing And Thawing ◽

Diffusion Media ◽

Cell Components

Fuel cells are a very promising technology for transportation applications in the future. Many companies are performing research in order to make the implementation of fuel cell-powered vehicles more feasible. One issue that needs to be addressed is the fact that fuel cell vehicles will be used in sub-freezing climates. Vehicles undergo frequent shut down and startup events, and as such, freezing and thawing effects on fuel cell components become important when the vehicle is stored overnight in cold climates. When shut off, fuel cells will maintain water in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and gas diffusion media unless certain purging protocols are adhered to. When the cell is subjected to sub-freezing temperatures, the water remaining in these media will freeze. This freezing could have a detrimental impact on the pore structure, fiber integrity, and binder effectiveness in the GDL, thereby decreasing the electrochemical active surface area of the electrolytes and hurting the overall performance of the cell. This paper details the prior research in the area of freezing and thawing effects in these media and also details current research on the degradation of the GDL specifically.

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Directly deposited Nafion/TiO2 composite membranes for high power medium temperature fuel cells

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c5ra27462a ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 6 (29) ◽

pp. 24261-24266 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Niklas Wehkamp ◽

Matthias Breitwieser ◽

Andreas Büchler ◽

Matthias Klingele ◽

Roland Zengerle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

High Power ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Production Method ◽

Medium Temperature ◽

Operation Temperature ◽

Simple Production

This work presents a simple production method for TiO2 reinforced Nafion® membranes which are stable up to a 120 °C operation temperature and achieve record breaking fuel cell efficiencies.

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Material properties and processing in the production of fuel cell components: I. Hydrogen anodes from Raney nickel for lightweight alkaline fuel cells

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry ◽

10.1007/bf01019562 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 893-900 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

W. Jenseit ◽

A. Khalil ◽

H. Wendt

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Raney Nickel ◽

Material Properties ◽

Alkaline Fuel Cells ◽

Cell Components

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Component Failure Analysis From a Fleet of PEM Fuel Cells

ASME 2010 8th International Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference: Volume 2 ◽

10.1115/fuelcell2010-33207 ◽

2010 ◽

Author(s):

Scott Lux ◽

Arif Nelson ◽

Nicholas Josefik ◽

Franklin Holcomb

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Failure Modes ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Engineering Research ◽

Cell Components ◽

The U.S

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) managed the Residential Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell Demonstration. The U.S. Congress funded this project for fiscal years 2001–2004. A fleet of 91 residential-scale PEM fuel cells, ranging in size from 1–5 kW, was demonstrated at various U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) facilities worldwide. This detailed analysis looks into the most prevalent means of failure in the PEM fuel cell systems as categorized from the stack, reformer, and power-conditioning systems as well as the subsequent subsystems. Also evaluated are the lifespan and failure modes of selected fuel cell components, based on component type, age, and usage. The analysis shows while the fuel cell stack components had the single highest number of outages, the balance of plant made for 60.6% of the total outages. The hydrogen cartridges were the most prevalent component replaced during the entire program. The natural gas fuel cell stacks had the highest average operational lifetime; one stack reached a total of 10,250 hours.

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