Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Battery Replacement Program

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Hall ◽  
Corey Grice ◽  
Bogdan Gurau ◽  
Paul McGinn
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Direct Methanol Fuel Cell ◽  
Direct Methanol ◽  
Methanol Fuel Cell

Experimental Investigation on the Performance of a Formic Acid Electrolyte-Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

2013 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Ouellette ◽  
Cynthia Ann Cruickshank ◽  
Edgar Matida
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Formic Acid ◽  
Power Output ◽  
Direct Methanol Fuel Cell ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Portable Devices ◽  
Acid Electrolyte ◽  
Optimal Operating ◽  
Direct Methanol ◽  
Methanol Fuel Cell

The performance of a new methanol fuel cell that utilizes a liquid formic acid electrolyte, named the formic acid electrolyte-direct methanol fuel cell (FAE-DMFC) is experimentally investigated. This fuel cell type has the capability of recycling/washing away methanol, without the need of methanol-electrolyte separation. Three fuel cell configurations were examined: a flowing electrolyte and two circulating electrolyte configurations. From these three configurations, the flowing electrolyte and the circulating electrolyte, with the electrolyte outlet routed to the anode inlet, provided the most stable power output, where minimal decay in performance and less than 3% and 5.6% variation in power output were observed in the respective configurations. The flowing electrolyte configuration also yielded the greatest power output by as much as 34%. Furthermore, for the flowing electrolyte configuration, several key operating conditions were experimentally tested to determine the optimal operating points. It was found that an inlet concentration of 2.2 M methanol and 6.5 M formic acid, as along with a cell temperature of 52.8 °C provided the best performance. Since this fuel cell has a low optimal operating temperature, this fuel cell has potential applications for handheld portable devices.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document