(Invited) High Temperature Membrane Electrode Assemblies for Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cells: Past, Present, and Future

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Temperature ◽  
Intermediate Temperature ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assemblies ◽  
Electrode Assemblies

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

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.

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.

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