The performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cell cooling system using coolant flow channels enhanced with baffles was numerically investigated. To do this, the maximum temperature of the cooling plate, temperature uniformity and also pressure drop along the flow channels were compared for different cases associated with number of baffles and their dimensions inside the channels. The govern...

The present paper explores the impact of an on-board hydrogen harvesting system (fuel reformer) on the overall efficiency of a fuel-cell powered vehicle. Various methods of hydrogen production for automotive applications have been discussed first. As the hydrogen production is one of the major challenges for application of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, especially in vehicular indus...

This paper describes a diagnostic assistant software project which has been developed for use with a portable fuel cell system. The diagnostic assistant is intended for use in a manufacturing environment to diagnose fuel cell systems which fail factory acceptance testing. Because diagnostic procedures for the fuel cell system are still being developed, the assistant is designed to allow procedu...

The currently available PEMs are suitable for use at maximum 80C because of the requirement of the presence of water for proton conductivity. However, for emerging applications, a fuel cell operating at temperatures as high as 120 C is required. This can possibly be achieved by creating novel PEMs. Supramolecular polymers are being investigated extensively and may be conjugated with heteropolya...

The design process for a fuel-cell-based inverter system for domestic use is discussed. The peculiar characteristics of the fuel cell stack energy source require the use of a battery for buffering. The fuel cell characteristics and the battery requirements for this application are discussed. A large number of different possible solutions are examined. The proposed solution uses an active filter...

Objectives • Develop realistic and internally consistent detailed designs for automotive gasoline fuel processor/ proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems and direct hydrogen PEM fuel cell systems by using current-year technology. • Apply Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) design and costing techniques to compare system designs at low, medium, and high annual production rates. •...

exergy analysis of an integrated molten carbonate fuel cell-turbo expander-steam turbine hybrid cycle has been presented in this study. the proposed cycle has been used as a sustainable energy approach to provide a micro hybrid power plant with high exergy efficiency. to generate electricity by the mentioned system, an externally reformed molten carbonate fuel cell located upstream of the combi...

There are substantial barriers to the introduction of hydrogen fuel cells for transportation, including the high cost of fuel-cell systems, the current lack of a hydrogen infrastructure, and the relatively low fuel efficiency when using hydrogen produced from hydrocarbons. Here, we describe a solid oxide fuel cell that combines a catalyst layer with a conventional anode, allowing internal refor...

The dynamic models for the fuel cell power and the configuration of the fuel cell distributed generation system are shown in this paper. Due to nonlinear characteristics of fuel cell model, the output voltage of fuel cell varies greatly when the load changes. A novel interface is designed to provide a constant output voltage for charging of the battery bank of the fuel cell distributed generati...