Project Showcase Poster
Transcript of Project Showcase Poster
AppliedPEMFuelCellforVehicleControl
Figure6:RCCartobeUsedwiththeNewFuelCellStack
Figure5showstheexplodedviewofthenewfuelcellstack
design.Eachmembraneassemblyproduces0.4Vwith5A.The
RCvehiclewillrequire9membraneassembliesinthefuelcell
stack,wiredinseriestopowertheelectricalmotor.Thisfuelcell
systemwillrequireportablehydrogenandoxygenstorageonthe
vehicle.Thenewsystemwillnotrequiredirectheatingofthe
gasses.
FutureWork• Creatinganimprovedfuelcellstack
• Reducingweightwithsmallercomponents
• Largescaleimplementation
• Removeneedforwatersaturation
Figure5:ExplodedViewoftheNewFuelCellStack
RCCardesignThenewfuelcelldesignwillpoweraRCvehicle,
replacingthestandardbattery.Below,inFigure
6,isapictureoftheRCcarusedbeforethefuel
cellwasinstalled.
Duetoitsuniquemotorandsmallchassis,
valuesofpowerconsumptionhadtobe
calculated.Inordertodeterminehowmanyfuel
cellswouldbeneededfortheRCcartwo
optionswereconsidered:
1. Stackingmultiplefuelcells
2. Creatingonelargefuelcell
Theorientationofthefuelcellonthevehicle
wasalsoacharacteristicofdesignthathadto
bedetermined.Figure7showsthefinalproduct
ofheRCcarafterallthedesignswere
completedandcomponentsbuilt.
Figure7:FuelCellPoweredRCCar
FlowControl FuelCellStackWaterSaturation
Hydrogen
Oxygen
OptimizedPEMFuelCellwithCNTInserts:TheApproachThefuelcellanditsadjoiningsystemwere
designedfortheresearchofhighperformanceCNT
basedelectrodes.Toprovideanimprovedtesting
apparatusovertheNano-Energylab’sexisting
prototype,thefollowingspecificationsweremet:
• Self-contained,singleunit,semi-portable
systemhousingthefollowingcomponents:
1. PEMfuelcell
2. Gasbubblers
3. Pressuregauges
4. Flowmeters/controllers
5. Temperaturecontrollers
• Improvedbubblerdesigntodeliverwetgasto
theelectrodesat80oC
• Increasedmembraneandelectrodesurface
area(25cm2 )
PerformanceTestingAfterthePEMfuelcellsystem
wasbuilt,itunderwent
multipleperformancetests.
Thefuelcellandsystemwere
showncapableofholdingthe
requiredpressure,andthe
controllersranaccurately.
AsseeninFigure2,thePEMfuelcellisconstructed
fromtwographitebipolarplates,eachheatedbyan
aluminumendplateblock.ACNTbasedcatalyst
layerisplacedadjacenttothechannelsoneachof
thebipolarplates.ForthePEManafion membrane
isplacedbetweeneachcatalystlayer.
BipolarPlateDesignTheobjectiveofthebipolarplatedesignwasto
maximizetheeffectivearea,limitcondensedwater
vapor,andprovidethemostconsistent
concentrationprofileacrossthecatalystlayer.
Figure1: PEMFuelCellSystem
Tomeettheserequirements,amirroredsetof
serpentinechannelsweremachinedintoeach
ofthegraphiteplates.Threechannelswere
machinedperserpentinepathtoallowthe
mostefficientuseofthearea(Figure3).
Intheory,theshortenedflowpathsdecrease
thechanceofalargeconcentrationdropalong
thegraphiteplatesordevelopmentofwater
condensation,butthisshouldallowmore
hydrogenandoxygentointeractwiththeir
respectivecatalyststohelpmaintainthe
electrochemicalreactionrate.
Figure2: PEMFuelCellAssembly
Figure4:PowerPerformanceTestoftheFuelCell
Figure3: BipolarPlateGasFlowFieldChannel
Figure4showsthepowerperformancetestofthefuel
cell.Thefuelcellwastestedatconditionsof800Cwith
bothgasses(HydrogenandOxygen)flowingat20
StandardCubicCentimetersperMinute(SCCM).
AbstractFallSemesterObjective:todesignandbuildanimprovedapolymerelectrolytemembrane(PEM)fuelcellsystembasedonacurrentresearchprototypeforthetestingofnovelcarbonnanotube(CNT)basedcatalyst
layers.Thegoalsincluded:designingandbuildingalargerfuelcellwithoptimizedflowfieldchannelpatterns;designingnew saturationheaterstoreplacethecurrentwaterboiler;andoptimizinganewfuelcellsystem
asawholethatwouldbesemi-portable,moreconvenienttouse,anddeliverimprovedpowerdensitycapableofpoweringasmallfan.
SpringSemesterObjective:tousetheknowledgegainedfromthefallsemestertodesignandbuildanewstackedPEMfuelcell withCNTbasedcatalystlayerstopowerasmall,electricalremotecontrol(RC)vehicle.The
designwillincludeanimprovedfuelcellsystemdesignandpowermanagementsystem.
MEENSeniorDesign/AggiE-ChallengePolymerElectrolyteFuelCellsforVehicularOperations