Methanol as antifreeze agent for cold start of automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Knorr, Florian; Sánchez, Daniel García; Schirmer, Johannes; Gazdzicki, Pawel; Friedrich, K. Andreas

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.036

Cited by 44 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…In addition, the use of a microporous layer (MPL), material choice, cell components design (e.g. diffusion media thickness or channel/land) and the use of a methanol solution as antifreeze during cold storage can help to mitigate degradation due to ice formation [4,16,17,18]. With the aim of reducing the degradation due to subfreezing temperatures of a PEMFC system for aircraft applications, these findings will be validated with a state-of-the-art stack, for which cold storages down to -40°C will be carried out.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of gas purging and cold storage impact on PEM fuel cell system performance for aeronautical applications

et al. 2022

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Durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems under cold weather conditions is essential and a critical challenge for transportation applications. During cold storage the water remaining in the cells can freeze causing damage to the cell components. In order to avoid this degradation, fuel cells are commonly purged with dried gases during shutdown prior to its storage at subzero temperatures. This work investigates cold storage of PEMFC systems at temperatures down to -40°C with the aim of developing a shutdown procedure that leads to minimal degradation due to cold storage, while meets energy efficient and time requirements of aeronautical applications. To that end, several experiments were carried out with two different stacks (a 4 kW liquid cooled and a 100 W air cooled) under a wide range of operating parameters: cathode gas, purge temperature, anode and cathode gas purge flow rates, purge time and cold storage temperature. The fuel cell performance degradation due to ice formation was measured by the polarization curves conducted prior and after every F/T cycle. The effects of these operating parameters on the durability of the PEMFC systems under cold storage are evaluated. The obtained experimental results showed that very long purge process lead to further performance degradation at -10°C than shorter process at -40°C, which indicates that eliminating all remained water in the cells is not only inefficient, but also lead to degradation due to the drying process. Moreover, guidelines to improve shutdown procedure for cold storage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems for aeronautical applications are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of gas purging and cold storage impact on PEM fuel cell system performance for aeronautical applications

et al. 2022

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“…This leads to the direct reaction of the two reactants under heat generation at the catalytic sites, parallel to the electrochemical reaction. Ex situ, the heat dissipation due to the pin-hole formation can be easily observed by an IR camera [82]. The effect of mixed potentials, however, can by monitored in situ by a segmented cell [20,83].…”

Section: Defects and Degradationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancement of Segmented Cell Technology in Low Temperature Hydrogen Technologies

et al. 2020

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The durability and performance of electrochemical energy converters, such as fuel cells and electrolysers, are not only dependent on the properties and the quality of the used materials. They strongly depend on the operational conditions. Variations in external parameters, such as flow, pressure, temperature and, obviously, load, can lead to significant local changes in current density, even local transients. Segmented cell technology was developed with the purpose to gain insight into the local operational conditions in electrochemical cells during operation. The operando measurement of the local current density and temperature distribution allows effective improvement of operation conditions, mitigation of potentially critical events and assessment of the performance of new materials. The segmented cell, which can replace a regular bipolar plate in the current state of the technology, can be used as a monitoring tool and for targeted developments. This article gives an overview of the development and applications of this technology, such as for water management or fault recognition. Recent advancements towards locally resolved monitoring of humidity and to current distributions in electrolysers are outlined.

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“…From authors' point of view, alcohol additives to hydrogen fuel may reduce the negative effect of low temperatures on PEMFC operation and significantly extend the operation/storage temperature range by reducing destruction of MEA components during crystallization of the liquid phase in the MEA volume. For example, application of methanol-water solution (40 vol.%) as antifreeze in PEMFC allowed to carry out tests up to -30 °C [45]. The FC performance in the course of thawing-and-freezing test was much more effective as compared with the performance without the antifreeze or FC air conditioning by blowing gases before freezing.…”

Section: Electrochemical Systems Based On Solid Polymer Electrolytementioning

confidence: 99%

Electrochemical Technologies for Low Temperatures

Фатеев¹,

Кулова²,

Серегина³

et al. 2019

Chemical Problems

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This review is devoted to analysis of the possibility to use electrochemical energy systems at low temperatures. It is not possible to attain this goal without ecologically pure autonomous energy sources -chemical current sources capable of operating at temperatures up to -60 °C which are presently under development. Renewable energy systems combined with hydrogen fuel cells can also be used for this purpose, in particular with fuel cells and solid polymer electrolyte that can already operate normally at temperatures ranging from -20 to +50 °C and are perspective to be used and stored at lower temperatures.

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Methanol as antifreeze agent for cold start of automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Cited by 44 publications

References 46 publications

Investigation of gas purging and cold storage impact on PEM fuel cell system performance for aeronautical applications

Investigation of gas purging and cold storage impact on PEM fuel cell system performance for aeronautical applications

Advancement of Segmented Cell Technology in Low Temperature Hydrogen Technologies

Electrochemical Technologies for Low Temperatures

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