Validation of an externally oil-cooled 1 kWel HT-PEMFC stack operating at various experimental conditions

Abstract

The performance of 1 kWel 48-cell HT-PEMFC at various experimental conditions is presented, particularly at several CO concentrations (up to 1.0%). Polarization curves measured at various anode (1.0-2.5) and cathode (1.6-4.0) stoichiometries; stack operating temperatures (120-160 o C) and gas pressures (up to 0.5 barg) are reported and analysed. The minimum gas stoichiometries of 1.25 and 2.0 were determined for the anode and cathode, respectively. The highest stack power density of 225 mW cm-2 was measured at 160 o C and 0.4 A cm-2. Operation at CO concentrations up to 1% was achieved, although a loss of performance of about 4% was observed for low CO concentrations. The operating temperature enhanced fuel cell performance and tolerance to CO, even when supplied with higher CO concentration in the anode feed gas.

Current status of fuel cell based combined heat and power systems for residential sector

“…Increasing the operating temperature of the PEMFC should effectively alleviate CO adsorption on the catalyst, but the membrane needs to be replaced with high temperature resistant materials like polybenzimidazole (PBI). An HT-PEMFC with a PBI membrane can be operated up to a temperature of 200 C. At this temperature, high CO tolerance (<5% CO) is observed and humidification of reactants is no longer required [96,97]. During the operation, no liquid water is present in the HT-PEMFC stack which in turn increases the reliability of the stack.…”

Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies at the Hydrogen South Africa (HySA) Systems Competence Centre

“…The stack showed a reasonable CO tolerance of up to 0.5% CO at 160ºC. A more detailed description of the results of stack testing has been reported and is available elsewhere (11). The stack will be further characterised and long term stability operation and voltage degradation rate will be studied.…”

Thermal management of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells by using flattened heat pipes

“…In this study, the design of 1 kWe HT-PEMFC stack refers to the experimental stacks developed by Advent Technologies S.A. [21] and Bujlo et al [8]. Hydrogen and air were supplied to the stack with flow rates of 0.84 m 3 hr -1 and 4 m 3 hr -1 , respectively.…”

“…The downsides of liquid cooling technique are using the complicated system with parasitic power consumption from pump, flow meter, pressure sensor, valve, etc. Bujlo et al [8] conducted an external oil cooling system to maintain the working temperature of a 48 cells HT-PEMFC stack. The operating temperature was stably controlled at 120-160 ºC and the reformer gas was fed as the reactant fuel.…”