Modeling Ultrasonic Sealing of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave C. Guglielmo ◽  
Todd T. B. Snelson ◽  
Daniel F. Walczyk
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Catalyst Layer ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Ultrasonic Bonding ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Physics Simulation ◽  
High Temperature Pem

Ultrasonic bonding, with its extremely fast cycle times and energy efficiency, is being investigated as an important manufacturing technology for future mass production of fuel cells. The objectives of the authors’ research are to (1) create a multi-physics simulation model that predicts through-thickness energy distribution and temperature gradients during ultrasonic sealing of polybenzimidazole (PBI) based Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) for High Temperature PEM fuel cells, and (2) correlate the model with experimentally measured internal interface (e.g., membrane/catalyst layer) temperatures. The multi-physics model incorporates the electrode and membrane material properties (stiffness and damping) in conjunction with the ultrasonic process parameters including pressure, energy flux and vibration amplitude. Overall, the processing of MEAs with ultrasonic bonding rather than a hydraulic thermal press results in MEAs that meet or exceed required performance specifications, and potentially reduces the manufacturing time from minutes to seconds.

Characterization of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

Fuel Cells ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 577-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Rau ◽  
A. Niedergesäß ◽  
C. Cremers ◽  
S. Alfaro ◽  
T. Steenberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Electrode Assemblies ◽  
High Temperature Pem

Cold Pressing of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Share ◽  
Lakshmi Krishnan ◽  
David Lesperence ◽  
Daniel Walczyk ◽  
Raymond Puffer
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Process Parameters ◽  
Sol Gel ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Fuel Cell Performance ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Electrode Assemblies

With the current economic and environmental situation, the development of affordable and clean energy sources is receiving much attention. One leading area of promise is PEM fuel cells. Presently, manufacture of high temperature Polybenzimidizole (PBI) based PEM Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) is usually performed by sealing in a thermal press. A typical sealing process requires heated tooling to press electrode-subgasket assemblies into a sol-gel PBI membrane. MEAs designed for transportation purposes have a large active area that requires expensive heated tooling, which in turn requires significant power to operate. A previous Design of Experiments (DoE) and analysis revealed that sealing temperature is a statistically insignificant sealing parameter with respect to MEA performance. To further investigate the effects of sealing temperature on MEA performance in hopes of reducing manufacturing costs, an additional DoE was performed in which MEAs were manufactured with the tooling at room temperature. This paper examines the effect of thermal sealing process parameters, namely: (1) sealing temperature; (2) percent compression, and; (3) seal time on the fuel cell performance. MEAs were manufactured using three different thickness membranes with these input process parameters. Polarization behavior during single cell operation, internal cell resistance and catalyst utilization were analyzed as performance parameters. This data is compared to MEAs made with traditional heated tooling. The analysis reveals the insignificance of sealing temperature on the initial performance of the MEA.

Thermal Sealing of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Share ◽  
Lakshmi Krishnan ◽  
Dan Walczyk ◽  
David Lesperence ◽  
Raymond Puffer
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Process Parameters ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Fuel Cell Performance ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Slow Kinetics ◽  
Electrode Assemblies

The main challenges of low temperature (80–120°C) Nafion-based PEM technology are (1) low cathode performance due to slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (2) high material costs (3) considerable system design and operation for water management (4) low tolerance to impurities in fuel stream and (5) low quality heat resulting in low overall system efficiency. Furthermore, Nafion membranes achieve maximum conductivity only when hydrated, limiting their operation to <100 C. Operating the fuel cell >100 C is desirable to overcome the aforementioned limitations. Though several high temperature membranes for PEMFC have been developed, polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with high Phosphoric acid content (>90%) developed by BASF Fuel cell are currently seeing commercial interest. The most vital step in MEA manufacturing is the sealing of the membrane in between the electrode-substrate assembly to form a five-layer architecture. Currently, MEA sealing is done by a thermal seal process. This paper examines the effect of thermal sealing process parameters, namely (1) sealing temperature (2) percent compression (3) sealing time and (4) manufacturer-specified post-processing after sealing on the fuel cell performance. A design of experiments was developed with these input process parameters and the polarization behavior during single cell operation, as well as internal cell resistance, were analyzed as performance parameters. ANOVA analysis revealed the statistically significant input factors for the thermal sealing process, which are essential for the rapid and high-quality manufacturing of membrane electrode assemblies for high temperature fuel cells. Furthermore, a multiphysics model has been developed to allow for further refinement of the MEA sealing process.

Cell Performance of ABPBI-Based High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

2012 ◽  
Vol 229-231 ◽  
pp. 1034-1038
Author(s):  
Wei Mon Yan ◽  
Hsin Hung Chen ◽  
Guo Bin Jung ◽  
Chun I Lee ◽  
Chang Chung Yang
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Supported Catalyst ◽  
Catalyst Layer ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Cell Performance ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
High Temperature Pem

In this work, the cell performance of high temperature PEM fuel cells based on ABPBI membranes was experimentally measured in details. The ABPBI-based high PEM fuel cell was fabricated by using ABPBI-based gas diffusion electrodewith directly adding carbon-supported- catalyst to a homogeneous ABPBI solution prior to deposition and its membrane electrode assembly. The effects of various Pt loading of the catalyst layer, as well as the effect of different operating conditions were studied. The cell performance was evaluated using dry hydrogen/oxygen gases, which added advantage of eliminating the complicated humidification system of nafion cells. The measured results reveal that a catalyst layer with the higher Pt loading has a higher cell performance. In addition, better cell performance is noted for a case with higher cell temperature or higher cathode flowrate.

Manufacturing Implementation of Ultrasonic Sealing of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake M. Pyzza ◽  
William M. Sisson ◽  
Raymond Puffer
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Unit Cost ◽  
Pem Fuel Cell ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Automated Production ◽  
Laboratory Setup ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Production Cell

Early research has demonstrated the benefits of ultrasonically bonding PEM fuel cell Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs), in terms of durability [2] and unit cost and cycle time [3]. With these improvements in performance, the next phase in the development of the process is to move from a laboratory setup to an automated production cell capable of producing larger volumes of fuel cells while maintaining a quality ultrasonic bond. The MEAs also need to be produced more affordably and with quality standards meeting or exceeding the level set by current best manufacturing practices.

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