Evaluation of Impurity Concentration Process and Mitigation Operation in Fuel Cell System for Using Biogas

For a low-carbon society, it is necessary to extract hydrogen for fuel cells from biogas rather than from fossil fuels. However, impurities contained in the biogas affect the fuel cell; hence, there is a need for system and operation methods to remove these impurities. In this study, to develop a fuel cell system for the effective utilization of biogas-derived hydrogen, the compositional change and concentration of impurities in the hydrogen recirculation system under actual operation were evaluated using process simulation. Then, the mitigation operation for performance degradation using simple purification methods was evaluated on the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) stack. In the process simulation of the hydrogen recirculation system, including the PEMFC stack, the concentration of impurities remained at a level that did not pose a problem to the performance. In the constant voltage test for a simulated gas supply of biogas-derived hydrogen, the conditions for applying the methanation reforming and air bleeding methods were analyzed. As a result, methanation reforming is more suitable for supplying biogas-containing CO to the PEMFC stack for continuous operation.

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A Grid-Tied Fuel Cell Multilevel Inverter with Low Harmonic Distortions

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14030688 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. 688

Author(s):

Khlid Ben Hamad ◽

Doudou N. Luta ◽

Atanda K. Raji

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Energy Demand ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Clean Energy ◽

Energy System ◽

Cell System ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Fuel Cell System ◽

Harmonic Distortions

As a result of global energy demand increase, concerns over global warming, and rapid exhaustion of fossil fuels, there is a growing interest in energy system dependence on clean and sustainable energy resources. Attractive power technologies include photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and biomass power. Fuel cells are also clean energy units that substitute power generators based on fossil fuels. They are employed in various applications, including transportation, stationary power, and small portable power. Fuel cell connections to utility grids require that the power conditioning units, interfacing the fuel cells and the grids, operate accordingly (by complying with the grid requirements). This study aims to model a centralised, single-stage grid-tied three-level diode clamped inverter interfacing a multi-stack fuel cell system. The inverter is expected to produce harmonic distortions of less than 0.5% and achieve an efficiency of 85%. Besides the grid, the system consists of a 1.54 MW/1400 V DC proton exchange membrane fuel cell, a 1.3 MW three-level diode clamped inverter with a nominal voltage of 600 V, and an inductance-capacitance-inductance (LCL) filter. Two case studies based on the load conditions are considered to assess the developed system’s performance further. In case 1, the fuel cell system generates enough power to fully meet this load and exports the excess to the grid. In the other case, a load of 2.5 MW was connected at the grid-tied fuel cell inverter’s output terminals. The system imports the grid’s power to meet the 2.5 MW load since the fuel cell can only produce 1.54 MW. It is demonstrated that the system can supply and also receive power from the grid. The results show the developed system’s good performance with a low total harmonic distortion of about 0.12% for the voltage and 0.07% for the current. The results also reveal that the fuel cell inverter voltage and the frequency at the point of common coupling comply with the grid requirements.

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Fuzzy logic MPPT control algorithm for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells System

Algerian Journal of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development ◽

10.46657/ajresd.2021.3.1.2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 03 (01) ◽

pp. 13-22

Author(s):

Badreddine KANOUNI ◽

◽

Abd Essalam BADOUD ◽

Saad MEKHILEF ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Cell System ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Maximum Power ◽

Fuel Cell System ◽

Maximum Power Point ◽

Power Point ◽

Exchange Membrane

Fuel cells output power depends on the operating conditions, including cell temperature, oxygen pressure, hydrogen pressure, tempureter . In each particular condition, there is only one unique operating point for a fuel cell system with the maximum output. Thus, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller is needed to increase the efficiency of the PEMFC systems. In this paper an efficient method fuzzy logic controller is proposed for MPPT of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, boost converter. FLC adjusts the operating point of the PEM fuel cell to the maximum power by tuning of the boost converter duty cycle. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm, simulation results are sumulated in two cases, in normel condution and variation in temperature .the FLC algorithm with fast convergence, high accuracy and very low power fluctuations tracks the maximum power point of the fuel cell system

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Numerical Study and Optimisation of Channel Geometry and Gas Diffusion Layer of a PEM Fuel Cell

ASME 2012 10th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology ◽

10.1115/fuelcell2012-91269 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Surajudeen O. Obayopo ◽

Tunde Bello-Ochende ◽

Josua P. Meyer

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Diffusion Layer ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Gas Diffusion ◽

Cell System ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Fuel Cell System ◽

Exchange Membrane

Fuel cell technology offers a promising alternative to conventional fossil fuel energy sources. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) in particular have become sustainable choice for the automotive industries because of its low pollution, low noise and quick start-up at low temperatures. Researches are on-going to improve its performance and reduce cost of this class of energy systems. In this work, a novel approach to optimise proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell gas channels in the systems bipolar plates with the aim of globally optimising the overall system net power performance at minimised pressure drop and subsequently low pumping power requirement for the reactant species gas was carried out. In addition, the effect of various gas diffusion layer (GDL) properties on the fuel cell performance was examined. Simulations were done ranging from 0.6 to 1.6 mm for channel width, 0.5 to 3.0 mm for channel depth and 0.1 to 0.7 for the GDL porosity. A gradient based optimisation algorithm is implemented which effectively handles an objective function obtained from a computational fluid dynamics simulation to further enhance the obtained optimum values of the examined multiple parameters for the fuel cell system. The results indicate that effective match of reactant gas channel and GDL properties enhance the performance of the fuel cell system. The numerical results computed agree well with experimental data in the literature. Consequently, the results obtained provide useful information for improving the design of fuel cells.

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Microbial fuel cells constructed from the integration of anaerobic and aerobic sanitary landfill site systems

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science ◽

10.1088/1755-1315/880/1/012034 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 880 (1) ◽

pp. 012034

Author(s):

N Abdul Harris ◽

A Abdul Halim

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Food Waste ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Fossil Fuels ◽

Cell System ◽

Fuel Cell System ◽

Result Show ◽

Aerobic And Anaerobic ◽

Double Chamber

Abstract The world’s main source of energy now is fossil fuels but the demand for power is increasing. In addition, the burning of fossil fuels produces harmful greenhouse gases and has a significant impact on the environment. The fuel cell system in this study is based on the aerobic and anaerobic integration system are used in most waste disposal methods in Malaysia. It is a system of electrochemistry results from the oxidation of organic matter that transfers electrons to carbon graphite This research is to study the effectiveness of the method generating electricity from micro-fuel cells produced from leachate wastewater and it is also conducted to identify microbial activity using a double chamber system. The food waste obtain is divided into double chambers which is aerobic and anaerobic. Digital readings using a multimeter are performed for ten to thirteen days continuously to obtain the highest reading results for voltage and electric current. The measurement of the highest reading result on the 11th day recorded a reading as high as 146.8 mV at 2000 mV while the current reached 28 μA at 2000 μA. This study has proven that there is the production of electrical sources from the activity of organisms present in food waste using microbial fuel cell systems. The result show that food waste and cattle manure produce the highest voltage and current. This has provided an opportunity to explore alternative ways of generating electricity according to the environment and conditions of each region.

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