This study is to understand the impact of operating conditions, especially initial operation temperature (T<sub>ini</sub>) which is set in a high temperature range, on the temperature profile of the interf...This study is to understand the impact of operating conditions, especially initial operation temperature (T<sub>ini</sub>) which is set in a high temperature range, on the temperature profile of the interface between the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) and the catalyst layer at the cathode (i.e., the reaction surface) in a single cell of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). A 1D multi-plate heat transfer model based on the temperature data of the separator measured using the thermograph in a power generation experiment was developed to evaluate the reaction surface temperature (T<sub>react</sub>). In addition, to validate the proposed heat transfer model, T<sub>react</sub> obtained from the model was compared with that from the 3D numerical simulation using CFD software COMSOL Multiphysics which solves the continuity equation, Brinkman equation, Maxwell-Stefan equation, Butler-Volmer equation as well as heat transfer equation. As a result, the temperature gap between the results obtained by 1D heat transfer model and those obtained by 3D numerical simulation is below approximately 0.5 K. The simulation results show the change in the molar concentration of O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O from the inlet to the outlet is more even with the increase in T<sub>ini</sub> due to the lower performance of O<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction. The change in the current density from the inlet to the outlet is more even with the increase in T<sub>ini</sub> and the value of current density is smaller with the increase in T<sub>ini </sub>due to the increase in ohmic over-potential and concentration over-potential. It is revealed that the change in T<sub>react</sub> from the inlet to the outlet is more even with the increase in T<sub>ini</sub> irrespective of heat transfer model. This is because the generated heat from the power generation is lower with the increase in T<sub>ini </sub>due to the lower performance of O<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction.展开更多
Key words,： Two 1-D dynamical and isothermal models of cathode gas diffusion layer（GDL） with isobaric and non-isobaric operations for polymer electrolyte fuel cells（PEFCs） were developed and implemented in COMSOL...Key words,： Two 1-D dynamical and isothermal models of cathode gas diffusion layer（GDL） with isobaric and non-isobaric operations for polymer electrolyte fuel cells（PEFCs） were developed and implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics v3.5.The artificial diffusion coefficient was introduced as well to make the numerical computation be stable.In the non-isobaric model,the pressure of gas mixture was obtained by summing up the governing equations of gaseous components,instead of Navier-Stoks equation.Comparison of the two models were carried out with the steady-states and dynamical simulations under given conditions.The corresponding analysis based on the simulated results was also given simultaneously.This paper is contributed to finding the differences between the isobaric and non-isobaric operation in the two-phase model of cathode GDL.展开更多
This paper proposes an improved optimal operation planning method for residential PEFC-CGS (Polymer Electrolyte Fuel CellCo-Generation System). Residential PEFC-CGS has recently been gathering attention as one of the ...This paper proposes an improved optimal operation planning method for residential PEFC-CGS (Polymer Electrolyte Fuel CellCo-Generation System). Residential PEFC-CGS has recently been gathering attention as one of the distributed power sources with high efficiency and low environmental impacts. Previous research pointed out that the output variations of PEFC adversely affect the durability. It can be surmised that smaller output variations will be desired to extend durability years. However, in this field, ramping rate have not been sufficiently considered. For local search and tabu search, ramping rate constraint makes our operation planning difficult because it restricts the search for feasible neighborhood solutions. Therefore, the authors proposed a method to deal with typical and harsher ramping rate constraints in comparison with conventional methods. There are two key points for the improvement. One is the reinforcement of the search along the output power axis;the other is to make use of the strategy of tabu search which avoids the local optimal solutions. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in the daily operation planning. Furthermore, in the case using typical ramping rate parameter, it is confirmed that tabu search doesn’t contribute the reduction of daily operational cost due to the above stated restriction of the search area.展开更多
The purpose of this study is to point out the dominant factor of heat and mass distribution in single-cell PEFC （polymer electrolyte fuel cell）. The numerical simulation by simple 3D model to clarify the influence o...The purpose of this study is to point out the dominant factor of heat and mass distribution in single-cell PEFC （polymer electrolyte fuel cell）. The numerical simulation by simple 3D model to clarify the influence of cell components structure on heat and mass transfer phenomena as well as power generation experiment and measurement of in-plane temperature distribution by thermograph was carried out. From the simulation, the gas channel pitch of separator was the key factor to unify in-plane distribution of temperature and gas concentration on reaction surface in cell. The compression of GDL （gas diffusion layer） by cell binding caused wider distribution of mass concentration in GDL. From the experiment, the power generation performance was promoted with decreasing gas channel pitch. The temperature range in observation area was reduced with decreasing gas channel pitch. It can be concluded that the power generation performance is promoted by decreasing gas channel pitch.展开更多
In order to remove CO to achieve lower CO content of below 10 ppm in the CO removal step of reformer for polymer electrolyte fuel cell （PEFC） co-generation systems, CO preferential methanation under various conditio...In order to remove CO to achieve lower CO content of below 10 ppm in the CO removal step of reformer for polymer electrolyte fuel cell （PEFC） co-generation systems, CO preferential methanation under various conditions were studied in this paper. Results showed that, with a single kind of catalyst, it was difficult to reach both CO removal depth and CO2 conversion ratio of below 5%. Thus, a two-stage methanation process applying two kinds of catalysts is proposed in this study, that is, one kind of catalyst with relatively low activity and high selectivity for the first stage at higher temperature, and another kind of catalyst with relatively high activity and high selectivity for the second stage at lower temperature. Experimental results showed that at the first stage CO content was decreased from 1% to below 0.1% at 250-300 ℃, and at the second stage to below 10 ppm at 150-185 ℃. CO2 conversion was kept less than 5%, At the same time, influence of inlet CO content and GHSV on CO removal depth was also discussed in this paper.展开更多
Fuel cells and electrolysis are promising candidates for future energy production from renewable energy sources. Usually, polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems run on hydrogen and air, while the most of electrolysis s...Fuel cells and electrolysis are promising candidates for future energy production from renewable energy sources. Usually, polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems run on hydrogen and air, while the most of electrolysis systems vent out oxygen as unused by-product. Replacing air with pure oxygen, fuel cell electrochemical performance, durability and system efficiency can be significantly increased with a further overall system simplification and increased reliability. This work, which represents the initial step for pure H;/O;polymer electrolyte fuel cell operation in closed-loop systems, focuses on performance validation of a single cell operating with pure H;/O;under different relative humidity（RH） levels, reactants stoichiometry conditions and temperature. As a result of this study, the most convenient and appropriate operative conditions for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack integrated in a closed loop system were selected.展开更多
Water management in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is a key topic for PEFC operation. A microporous layer (MPL) has been recently used to improve the water flooding in the gas diffusion layer (GDL) around the ...Water management in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is a key topic for PEFC operation. A microporous layer (MPL) has been recently used to improve the water flooding in the gas diffusion layer (GDL) around the catalyst layer. However, the mechanisms of this MPL are not completely understood because of the difficulty of measuring the water distribution during operation. To clarify the water-accumulation phenomena with the MPL, visualization and measurement of the water distribution in the through-plane direction of a small fuel cell is carried out by using neutron radiography. The parallelism of the neutron flux is optimized by using a collimator to observe the transient change in the water distributions, and two-dimensional water distributions in the through-plane direction of the PEFC can be obtained every 60 s. The differences in the water accumulation processes in the GDL without and with the MPL under the lands and channels are compared. It is observed that the water accumulation in the GDL under the land is greater than that under the channel during the period of early PEFC operation. Water evacuation from the GDL to the channel mainly occurs around the land corners. Furthermore, one-dimensional water distributions are calculated from the visualized water distributions, and the results without and with the MPL in the cathode are compared. The water thickness in the through-plane direction attains its maximum value around the boundary between the catalyst layer and the GDL without the MPL, whereas it is attained between the MPL and the GDL with the MPL. The maximum water accumulation in the GDL under the land without the MPL is higher than that with the MPL.展开更多
文摘This study is to understand the impact of operating conditions, especially initial operation temperature (T<sub>ini</sub>) which is set in a high temperature range, on the temperature profile of the interface between the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) and the catalyst layer at the cathode (i.e., the reaction surface) in a single cell of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). A 1D multi-plate heat transfer model based on the temperature data of the separator measured using the thermograph in a power generation experiment was developed to evaluate the reaction surface temperature (T<sub>react</sub>). In addition, to validate the proposed heat transfer model, T<sub>react</sub> obtained from the model was compared with that from the 3D numerical simulation using CFD software COMSOL Multiphysics which solves the continuity equation, Brinkman equation, Maxwell-Stefan equation, Butler-Volmer equation as well as heat transfer equation. As a result, the temperature gap between the results obtained by 1D heat transfer model and those obtained by 3D numerical simulation is below approximately 0.5 K. The simulation results show the change in the molar concentration of O<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O from the inlet to the outlet is more even with the increase in T<sub>ini</sub> due to the lower performance of O<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction. The change in the current density from the inlet to the outlet is more even with the increase in T<sub>ini</sub> and the value of current density is smaller with the increase in T<sub>ini </sub>due to the increase in ohmic over-potential and concentration over-potential. It is revealed that the change in T<sub>react</sub> from the inlet to the outlet is more even with the increase in T<sub>ini</sub> irrespective of heat transfer model. This is because the generated heat from the power generation is lower with the increase in T<sub>ini </sub>due to the lower performance of O<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction.
基金National High Technology Reseach & Development Program of High Temperature PEM Fuel Cell,China (863 Program,No. 2008AA050403)Shanghai Pujiang Talent Plan,China (No. 08PJ1409)Chinese 111-Program for Energy-Saving and Environment-Friendly Automotives (No. B08019)
文摘Key words,： Two 1-D dynamical and isothermal models of cathode gas diffusion layer（GDL） with isobaric and non-isobaric operations for polymer electrolyte fuel cells（PEFCs） were developed and implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics v3.5.The artificial diffusion coefficient was introduced as well to make the numerical computation be stable.In the non-isobaric model,the pressure of gas mixture was obtained by summing up the governing equations of gaseous components,instead of Navier-Stoks equation.Comparison of the two models were carried out with the steady-states and dynamical simulations under given conditions.The corresponding analysis based on the simulated results was also given simultaneously.This paper is contributed to finding the differences between the isobaric and non-isobaric operation in the two-phase model of cathode GDL.
文摘This paper proposes an improved optimal operation planning method for residential PEFC-CGS (Polymer Electrolyte Fuel CellCo-Generation System). Residential PEFC-CGS has recently been gathering attention as one of the distributed power sources with high efficiency and low environmental impacts. Previous research pointed out that the output variations of PEFC adversely affect the durability. It can be surmised that smaller output variations will be desired to extend durability years. However, in this field, ramping rate have not been sufficiently considered. For local search and tabu search, ramping rate constraint makes our operation planning difficult because it restricts the search for feasible neighborhood solutions. Therefore, the authors proposed a method to deal with typical and harsher ramping rate constraints in comparison with conventional methods. There are two key points for the improvement. One is the reinforcement of the search along the output power axis;the other is to make use of the strategy of tabu search which avoids the local optimal solutions. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed method in the daily operation planning. Furthermore, in the case using typical ramping rate parameter, it is confirmed that tabu search doesn’t contribute the reduction of daily operational cost due to the above stated restriction of the search area.
文摘The purpose of this study is to point out the dominant factor of heat and mass distribution in single-cell PEFC （polymer electrolyte fuel cell）. The numerical simulation by simple 3D model to clarify the influence of cell components structure on heat and mass transfer phenomena as well as power generation experiment and measurement of in-plane temperature distribution by thermograph was carried out. From the simulation, the gas channel pitch of separator was the key factor to unify in-plane distribution of temperature and gas concentration on reaction surface in cell. The compression of GDL （gas diffusion layer） by cell binding caused wider distribution of mass concentration in GDL. From the experiment, the power generation performance was promoted with decreasing gas channel pitch. The temperature range in observation area was reduced with decreasing gas channel pitch. It can be concluded that the power generation performance is promoted by decreasing gas channel pitch.
基金supported by Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation(NO.D0406001040111)in 2006 as major science and technology programNational Natural Science Foundation of China(NO.20776016)
文摘In order to remove CO to achieve lower CO content of below 10 ppm in the CO removal step of reformer for polymer electrolyte fuel cell （PEFC） co-generation systems, CO preferential methanation under various conditions were studied in this paper. Results showed that, with a single kind of catalyst, it was difficult to reach both CO removal depth and CO2 conversion ratio of below 5%. Thus, a two-stage methanation process applying two kinds of catalysts is proposed in this study, that is, one kind of catalyst with relatively low activity and high selectivity for the first stage at higher temperature, and another kind of catalyst with relatively high activity and high selectivity for the second stage at lower temperature. Experimental results showed that at the first stage CO content was decreased from 1% to below 0.1% at 250-300 ℃, and at the second stage to below 10 ppm at 150-185 ℃. CO2 conversion was kept less than 5%, At the same time, influence of inlet CO content and GHSV on CO removal depth was also discussed in this paper.
文摘Fuel cells and electrolysis are promising candidates for future energy production from renewable energy sources. Usually, polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems run on hydrogen and air, while the most of electrolysis systems vent out oxygen as unused by-product. Replacing air with pure oxygen, fuel cell electrochemical performance, durability and system efficiency can be significantly increased with a further overall system simplification and increased reliability. This work, which represents the initial step for pure H;/O;polymer electrolyte fuel cell operation in closed-loop systems, focuses on performance validation of a single cell operating with pure H;/O;under different relative humidity（RH） levels, reactants stoichiometry conditions and temperature. As a result of this study, the most convenient and appropriate operative conditions for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack integrated in a closed loop system were selected.
文摘Water management in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is a key topic for PEFC operation. A microporous layer (MPL) has been recently used to improve the water flooding in the gas diffusion layer (GDL) around the catalyst layer. However, the mechanisms of this MPL are not completely understood because of the difficulty of measuring the water distribution during operation. To clarify the water-accumulation phenomena with the MPL, visualization and measurement of the water distribution in the through-plane direction of a small fuel cell is carried out by using neutron radiography. The parallelism of the neutron flux is optimized by using a collimator to observe the transient change in the water distributions, and two-dimensional water distributions in the through-plane direction of the PEFC can be obtained every 60 s. The differences in the water accumulation processes in the GDL without and with the MPL under the lands and channels are compared. It is observed that the water accumulation in the GDL under the land is greater than that under the channel during the period of early PEFC operation. Water evacuation from the GDL to the channel mainly occurs around the land corners. Furthermore, one-dimensional water distributions are calculated from the visualized water distributions, and the results without and with the MPL in the cathode are compared. The water thickness in the through-plane direction attains its maximum value around the boundary between the catalyst layer and the GDL without the MPL, whereas it is attained between the MPL and the GDL with the MPL. The maximum water accumulation in the GDL under the land without the MPL is higher than that with the MPL.
