Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Unitised regenerative fuel cells'

Remote area power supply (RAPS) is a potential early market for renewable energy - hydrogen systems because of the relatively high costs of conventional energy sources in remote regions. Solar-hydrogen RAPS systems commonly employ photovoltaic panels, a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyser, a storage for hydrogen gas, and a PEM fuel cell. Unitised Regenerative Fuel Cells (URFCs) use the same hardware for both electrolyser and fuel cell functions. Since both of these functions are not required simultaneously in a solar hydrogen RAPS system, URFCs based on PEM technology provide a promising opportunity for reducing the cost of the hydrogen subsystem used in renewable-energy hydrogen systems for RAPS. URFCs also have potential applications in the areas of aerospace, submarines, energy storage for central grids, and hydrogen cars. In this thesis, a general theoretical relationship between cell potential and current density of a single-cell PEM URFC operating in both fuel-cell (FC) and electrolyser (E) modes is developed using modified Butler-Volmer equations for both oxygen- and hydrogen-electrodes, and accounting for mass transport losses and saturation behaviour in both modes, membrane resistance to proton current, and membrane and electrode resistances to electron current. This theoretical relationship is used to construct a computer model based on Excel and Visual Basic to generate voltage-current (V-I) polarisation curves in both E and FC modes for URFCs with a range of membrane electrode assembly characteristics. The model is used to investigate the influence on polarisation curves of varying key parameters such charge transfer coefficients, exchange current densities, saturation currents, and membrane conductivity. A method for using the model to obtain best-fit values for electrode characteristics corresponding to an experime ntally-measured polarisation curve of a URFC is presented. The experimental component of the thesis has involved the design and construction of single PEM URFCs with an active area of 5 cm2 with a number of different catalyst types and loadings. V-I curves for all these cells have been measured and the performance of the cells compared. The computer model has then been used to obtain best-fit values for the electrode characteristics for the URFCs with single catalyst materials active in each mode on each electrode for the corresponding experimentally-measured V-I curves. Generally values have been found for exchange current densities, charge transfer coefficients, and saturation current densities that give a close fit between the empirical and theoretically-generated curves. The values found conform well to expectations based on the catalyst loadings, in partial confirmation of the validity of the modelling approach. The model thus promises to be a useful tool in identifying electrodes with materials and structures, together with optimal catalyst types and loadings that will improve URFC performance. Finally the role URFCs can play in developing cost-competitive solar- hydrogen RAPS systems is discussed, and some future directions for future URFC research and development are identified.

Les travaux précédents trouvés dans la littérature ont mis l'importance sur la pile à combustible PEM ou électrolyseur PEM. Certains articles ont étudié également la pile à combustible réversible et le système d'alimentation en hydrogène par énergie solaire en intégrant à la fois la pile à combustible et électrolyseur. Contrairement à un « Unitised regenerative fuel cell (URFC)», notre conception a un compartiment individuel pour chaque système de PEM-Fuel Cell et d'electrolyseur-PEM et nommé Quasi - URFC. Grâce à ce nouveau concept, l'objectif principal est de réduire le coût de la pile à combustible régénératrice (RFC) en minimisant le rapport de surface superficielle géométrique du catalyseur de l'assemblage membrane électrodes (AME) des deux modes dans la cellule. D'ailleurs, nous visons également à construire un RFC plus compact, léger et portable par rapport à une pile à combustible ou l'électrolyseur classique. Ce travail de recherche est divisé en trois parties : la modélisation et simulation numérique, l'assemblage du prototype et le travail d'expérimentation. Quant à la partie de modélisation, un modèle physique multi-2D a été développé dans le but d'analyser les performances d'une pile à combustible à régénérée à trois-compartiments, qui se compose d'une piles à combustible et d'électrolyseur. Ce modèle numérique est basée sur la résolution des équations de conservation de masse, du momentum, des espèces et du courant électrique en utilisant une approche par éléments finis sur des grilles 2D . Les simulations permettent le calcul de la vitesse, de la concentration de gaz, la densité de courant et les distributions de potentiels en mode pile à combustible et en mode d'électrolyse, ainsi nous aider à prédire le comportement de quasi - RFC. En outre, l'assemblage du premier prototype du nouveau concept de pile à combustible à combustible régénérée a été achevée et testée au cours des trois années d'études dans le cadre d'une thèse. Les résultats expérimentaux de la 3 Compartiments R-PEMFC ont été prometteurs dans les deux modes, soit en mode piles à combustible et soit en mode d'électrolyseur. Ces résultats valideront ensuite les résultats de la simulation, obtenus auparavant par la modélisation
The past works found in the literature have focused on either PEM fuel cell or electrolyzer-PEM. Some of the papers even studied the unitised reversible regenerative fuel cell (URFC) and the solar power hydrogen system by integrating both fuel cell and electrolyzer. Unlike the URFC, our design has an individual compartment for each PEMFC and E-PEM systems and named Quasi-URFC. With this new concept, the main objective is to reduce the cost of regenerative fuel cell (RFC) by minimizing the ratio of the catalyst’s geometric surface area of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of both cell modes. Apart from that, we also aim to build a compact, light and portable RFC.This research work is divided into three parts: the modeling, assembly of the prototype and the experimentation work. As for the modeling part, a 2D multi-physics model has been developed in order to analyze the performance of a three chamber-regenerative fuel cell, which consists of both fuel cell and electrolyzer systems. This numerical model is based on solving conservation equations of mass, momentum, species and electric current by using a finite-element approach on 2D grids. Simulations allow the calculation of velocity, gas concentration, current density and potential's distributions in fuel cell mode and electrolysis mode, thus help us to predict the behavior of Quasi-RFC. Besides that, the assembly of the first prototype of the new concept of regenerative fuel cell has been completed and tested during the three years of PhD studies. The experimental results of the Three-Chamber RFC are promising in both fuel cell and electrolyzer modes and validate the simulation results that previously obtained by modeling

Thesis (M.S. in Aeronautical Engineering) --Air Force Institute of Technology, 2008.
Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on Aug 8, 2008). "AFIT/GAE/ENY/08-M31" Includes bibliographical references.

The electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER, respectively) on the same catalyst surface is among the long-standing challenges in electrochemistry with paramount significance for a variety of electrochemical systems including regenerative fuel cells and rechargeable metal-air batteries. Non-precious group metals (non-PGMs) and their oxides, such as manganese oxides, are the alternative cost-effective solutions for the next generation of high-performance bifunctional oxygen catalyst materials. Here, initial stage electrocatalytic activity and long-term durability of four non-PGM oxides and their combinations, i.e. MnO₂, perovskites (LaCoO₃ and LaNiO₃) and fluorite-type oxide (Nd₃IrO₇), were investigated for ORR and OER in alkaline media. The combination of structurally diverse oxides revealed synergistic catalytic effect by improved bifunctional activity compared to the individual oxide components. Next, the novel role of alkali-metal ion insertion and the mechanism involved for performance promotion of oxide catalysts were investigated. Potassium insertion in the oxide structures enhanced both ORR and OER performances, e.g. 110 and 75 mV decrease in the OER (5 mAcm-²) and ORR (-2 mAcm-²) overpotentials (in absolute values) of MnO₂-LaCoO₃, respectively, during galvanostatic polarization tests. In addition, the stability of K⁺ activated catalysts was improved compared to unactivated samples. Further, a factorial design study has been performed to find an active nanostructured manganese oxide for both ORR and OER, synthesized via a surfactant-assisted anodic electrodeposition method. Two-hour-long galvanostatic polarization at 5 mAcm-² showed the lowest OER degradation rate of 5 mVh-¹ for the electrodeposited MnOx with 270 mV lower OER overpotential compared to the commercial γ-MnO₂ electrode. Lastly, the effect of carbon addition to the catalyst layer, e.g. Vulcan XC-72, carbon nanotubes and graphene-based materials, was examined on the ORR/OER bifunctional activity and durability of MnO₂ LaCoO₃. The highest ORR and OER mass activities of -6.7 and 15.5 Ag-¹ at 850 and 1650 mVRHE, respectively, were achieved for MnO₂-LaCoO₃-multi_walled_carbon_nanotube-graphene, outperforming a commercial Pt electrode. The factors affecting the durability of mixed-oxide catalysts were discussed, mainly attributing the performance degradation to Mn valence changes during ORR/OER. A wide range of surface analyses were employed to support the presented electrochemical results as well as the proposed mechanisms.
Applied Science, Faculty of
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Department of
Graduate

L'utilisation de pile à combustible à bord d'un avion impose d'extraire des espèces légères (telles que l'hydrogène et les hydrocarbures légers) du combustible liquide qui est stocké et utilisé, éventuellement à des températures où se produit une pyrolyse du carburant. La porosité d’un matériau composite pourrait être utilisée pour filtrer les espèces sélectionnées. L'efficacité de séparation d’un matériau poreux dépend de deux facteurs qui sont: la perméance et la sélectivité.Ces facteurs sont souvent déterminés avec une configuration classique utilisant un échantillon en forme d’un disque d’un matériau poreux. Cependant, cette configuration est loin de la réalité qui est composée de tubes. Par conséquent, une étude est réalisée en considérant les deux configurations en utilisant différents types de disques poreux et un tube composite poreux. Ensuite, les résultats obtenus sont comparés et les différents facteurs affectant le processus de perméation sont étudiés.Après cela, un banc d'essai innovant est développé et utilisé afin de déterminer la distribution axiale des deux propriétés d'un tube poreux en acier inoxydable (c'est-à-dire la perméance et la sélectivité). Les effets des conditions opératoires (débit massique d'entrée et pression d'entrée) ont été étudiés. Une nouvelle forme radiale de l'équation de perméabilité aux gaz a été développée pour ce travail et sa relation avec la perméabilité de Darcy est établie. La variation de pression le long de l'axe central du tube est déterminée. Les effets de cette variation de pression sur les propriétés physiques des gaz tels que la densité et la viscosité sont déterminés et leur influence sur la sélectivité est étudiée en utilisant différents gaz tels que l'azote, le dioxyde de carbone, le méthane et l'hélium.Plus tard, un mélange binaire de dioxyde de carbone (CO2) et d'Azote (N2) est considéré sous trois compositions volumétriques différentes (50/50%, 60/40% et 70/30%) afin d'évaluer la propriété de séparation de gaz d’un tube poreux (effet de membrane). La perméabilité au gaz pur, la perméabilité du mélange, la sélectivité idéale et la sélectivité de séparation de ce tube sont déterminées pour un débit massique et une pression d'entrée différents. Les facteurs affectant les distributions de CO2 et de N2 à l'intérieur du tube poreux sont étudiés.Les résultats obtenus peuvent être utiles pour comprendre les facteurs affectant la séparation des gaz dans le cas d'un tube poreux pour des processus industriels continus
Using Fuel Cell on board of aircraft imposes to extract light species (such as Hydrogen and light hydrocarbons) from the liquid fuel which is stored and used, possibly at temperatures where a fuel pyrolysis occurs. Porosity of a composite material could be used to filtrate the selected species. The separation efficiency of a porous material depends upon two factors which are: Permeance and Selectivity.These factors are often determined with a classical configuration using a porous disk sample. However, this configuration is far from the realistic one consisting of tubes. Therefore, a study is performed considering both configurations using different types of porous disks and a porous composite tube. Then, the obtained results are compared and the different factors affecting the permeation process are studied.After that, an innovative permselectivity test bench is developed and used in order to determine the axial distribution of the two properties of a stainless steel porous tube (i.e. permeance and selectivity). The effects of the operating conditions (inlet mass flowrate and inlet pressure) have been studied. A new radial form of the gas permeability equation has been developed for this work and its relationship with Darcy‘s permeability is established. The pressure variation along the centre axis of the tube is determined. The effects of this pressure variation on the physical properties of gases such as density and viscosity are determined and their influence on the selectivity is studied using different gases such as Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Methane, and Helium. Later, a binary mixture of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and of Nitrogen (N2) is considered under three different volumetric compositions (50/50%, 60/40% and 70/30%) in order to evaluate the separation property of the porous stainless steel tube (membrane effect). The pure gas permeability, the mixture permeability, the ideal selectivity and the separation selectivity of this tube are determined for a different mass flowrate and inlet pressure. The factors affecting the distributions of CO2 and N2 inside the porous tube are investigated. The obtained results can be useful to understand the factors affecting gas separation in case of a porous tube for continuous industrial processes

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Tese (Doutoramento)
IPEN/T
Intituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares, IPEN/CNEN-SP

Lack of energy storage is a key issue in the development of renewable energy sources. Most renewables, especially solar and wind, when used alone, cannot sustain a reliably constant power output over an extended period of time. These sources generally generate variable amounts of power intermittently, therefore, an efficient electrical energy storage (EES) method is required to better temporally balance power generation to power consumption. One of the more promising methods of electrical energy storage is the unitized regenerative fuel cell (UFRC.) UFRCs are fuel cells that can operate in a charge-discharge cycle, similar to a battery, to store and then to subsequently release power. Power is stored by means of electrolysis while the products of this electrolysis reaction can be recombined as in a normal fuel cell to release the stored power. A major advantage of UFRCs over batteries is that storage capacity can be decoupled from cell power, thus reducing the potential cost and weight of the cell unit. Here we investigate UFRCs based on hydrogen-halogen systems, specifically hydrogen-bromine, which has potential for improved electrode reaction kinetics and hence cheaper catalysts and higher efficiency and energy density. A mathematical model has been developed to analyze this system and determine cell behavior and cycle efficiency under various conditions. The conventional H2-Br2 URFCs, however also so far have utilized Pt catalysts and Nafion membranes. Consequently, a goal of this work was to explore alternate schemes and materials for the H2-Br2 URFC. Thus, three generations of test cells have been created. The first two cells were designed to use a molten bromide salt, ionic liquid or anion exchange membrane as the ion exchange electrolyte with the liquids supported on a porous membrane. This type of system provides the potential to reduce the amount of precious metal catalyst required, or possibly eliminate it altogether. Each cell showed improvement over the previous generation, although the results are preliminary. The final set of results are promising for anion exchange membranes on a cost basis compared Nafion. Another promising energy storage solution involves liquid methanol as an intermediate or as a hydrogen carrier. An alternative to storing high-pressure hydrogen is to produce it on-board/on-site on demand via a methanol electrocatalytic reformer (eCRef), a PEM electrolyzer in which methanol-water coelectrolysis takes place. Methanol handling, storage, and transportation is much easier than that for hydrogen. The hydrogen produced via methanol eCref may then be used in any number of applications, including for energy storage and generation in a standard H2-O2 PEM fuel cell. The mathematical modeling and analysis for an eCref is very similar to that of the HBr URFC. In this work, a comprehensive model for the coelectrolysis of methanol and water into hydrogen is created and compared with experimental data. The performance of the methanol electrolyzer coupled with a H2-O2 fuel cell is then compared for efficiency to that of a direct methanol fuel cell data and was found to be superior. The results suggest that an efficient and small paired eCRef-fuel cell system is potentially be a cheaper and more viable alternative to the standard direct methanol fuel cell. Both the H2-Br2 URFC and the methanol eCref in combination with a H2-O2 fuel cell have significant potential to provide higher energy efficiency and energy density for EES purposes.

碩士
元智大學
機械工程學系
94
A satisfactory performance of an electrolytic battery is achieved with the electrode structure and the best operation temperature. The main purpose of the paper discusses the influence of catalysts and temperature on electrolytic response of water. The best candidate catalyst for fuel cell might be improper for electrolysis. It is an important and difficult work to choose the bifunctional electrodes with a thin catalyst layer. 50wt.% Ru + 50wt.% Ir is a good bifunctional catalyst for the oxygen electrode. By adding Pt and Ir in the catalyst increase the electrolytic efficiency. When the catalyst is IrRu, its best operation temperature is spent for 60℃~80℃. Adjust and rise the temperature of the cell, can reduce electrolytic energy, increase the activation of the catalyst, and accelerate speed of response. Analyse electric conduction of catalyst can know that the active influence of the catalyst be better than electric conduction of the catalyst metal. Increasing the temperature can improve the activation of catalyst, accelerate the electrolytic chemical reaction of water, and can increase electric conduction of the catalyst metal, make the electrolytic performance of water increase. The high-temperature condition will impel the electrolyte membrane to accelerate decay. When the moisture humidification of the fuel is not enough, MEA may be too dry, the membrane will because lose moisture cause the cell mass transfer polarisation. When temperature is 80 ℃, make the moisture of the membrane electrode group insufficient of fuel cell, cause the dryness of the membrane, hinder the transmission of the ion, and make efficiency unstable and drop. The best operation temperature of the fuel cell is 60 ℃. The fuel cell and electrolysis system need conductibility good catalyst. Usually join the carbon powder of good electric conductivity in the electrode catalyst. This experiment uses the PtRu catalyst includes of the carbon, probe for the influence on performance of carbon content. So we must experiment the URFC system without carbon, because the carbon will destroy the electrodes of the oxygen end when water is electrolytic, the carbon will be appeared electrolytically, and the electrolytic liquid of pollution makes its performance unable to promote.

碩士
元智大學
機械工程學系
97
This study provides the standard operation procedures of impregnation method and thermal decomposition of a polymeric precursor (DPP) method for the preparations of Pt-based catalysts as the electrode catalysts in unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC). PtRu and PtIr have been widely used as the electrode catalysts in URFC because Ru can prevent the CO poison and Ir can provide better reversibility both at the water electrolysis mode and at the fuel cell mode. In addition, introduction of W has also been fund to increase specific surface area and resist CO poison. In order to decrease particle size and cost of the catalysts used in URFC, this study combines Pt, Ir, and Ru or W to form the ternary catalysts. This study used impregnation method to prepare Pt, PtIr, and PtRuIr; thermal decomposition of a polymeric precursor (DPP) method and microwave heating method to prepare PtWIr. For, impregnation and microwave heating method, three different pH values were selected for preparation. For DPP method, the chosen parameter was the heat treatment temperature. And some add Carbon nanotubes to prepare and compare. Carbon nanotubes material the use of commercial carbon nanotubes, respectively, as well as the oxidation of commercial carbon nanotubes. And other synthetic catalyst / carbon nanotubes, analysis of their physical properties and electrochemical properties. In this study, the use of impregnation catalyst synthesized with 60% -80% good recovery rate, by XRD can also be found to have a good crystalline structure, with an average particle size can also be controlled at below 5 nm. And found that when combining carbon nanotubes with the business when the Pt / CNT and PtWIr / CNT have good electrochemical surface area. And PtRuIr / CBT and PtIr / CBT by the cyclic voltammetry graph we can see that although both have a good reversibility, but its activity compared with Pt / CNT and PtWIr / CNT many poor in terms of performance. The experiment found that the use of DPP synthesis PtWIr / CNT could be synthesized than impregnation Pt / CNT higher activity, so the next choice PtWIr / CNT and may further improve the manufacturing process in terms of the URFC has the potential to be more than a new choice. This experiment also established a synthesis of the use of Pt catalyst impregnation with a high recovery rate and good lattice structure and the electrochemical activity of the synthetic method.

碩士
明道大學
材料科學與工程學系碩士班
99
In this study, we use Pt-Ir as catalyst for creating a Pt-Ir thin film by a method of transferred onto proton exchange substrate, and producting a membrane electrode assembly combined with this Pt-Ir thin film, the proton exchange membrane and the gas diffusing electrode. The major purpose of this project was to produce bifunctional membrane electrode assemblies by mechanical alloying in Different ratio of Pt and Ir , and investigate the influences of efficiency of URFC under a condition of the current density is 500 mA/cm2 and the proposed electrolysis voltage less than 2.0 V. Our result shows that the sample without Mechanical Polishing which electric current decay more serious test by a long time water electrolysis analysis. We consider that the Pt-Ir catalyst to with mechanical alloying was better than without mechanical alloying. Because of that the crystals were affected by mechanical lapping and hot pressing, the pellet become more uniform ,and it will be effected the result of water electrolysis of URFC. We also observe the Crystallization structure by TEM、XRD、SEM and Microstructure in the process of mechanical alloying.

碩士
元智大學
機械工程學系
98
Homogenization regenerative fuel cell (URFC) The key technology is the catalyst layer, so in addition to improved catalysts and to improve performance, reduce the amount of catalyst used and thus reduce their costs as the biggest issue. This study tried to join the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) and Pt binding, it can satisfy the increasing performance and reducing catalyst URFC use purposes. In this study, microwave heating method under the different pH values were prepared Pt / MWNT catalyst which, with the manufacturing process is simple, rapid response, equipment, easy access and so on. To replace the traditional carbon MWNT material, is expected to MWNT Merit mechanical and material properties, effectively enhance the activity of Pt and indirectly reduce the catalyst cost. PH values and to consider whether the oxidation of carbon nanotubes, using many materials Characteristics of sample detection technology. Made the final assessment of fuel cell membrane electrode pattern in the model with the water electrolysis performance. Found, Pt granules can be distributed evenly in the MWNT surface of the catalyst, the average grain size of about 3-5 nm, granules size as the pH value increases. After the pore volume of carbon nanotube oxidation increased, and the pore structure changed. The results showed that in the neutral environment can be synthesized with high purity and good crystallinity Leung Pt / MWNT. XPS high-resolution analysis revealed, pH, the more profit the higher the reduction in Pt. CV results also show that, Pt / NT and Pt / oNT the ESA is highest at pH = 7, respectively 70.89 and 70.68 m2 / g; attenuation in Pt / NT (pH = 7) 9% of the minimum attenuation. In the fuel cell mode, with Pt / NT (pH = 7) the performance of the highest output power of 655 mW/cm2, while the Pt / oNT (pH = 7) an output of 565 mW/cm2. Water electrolysis mode to Pt / NT (pH = 7) in the performance of 1.4V maximum, up to 202 mA/cm2, from these two tests can be found in Pt / NT (pH = 7) as the best catalyst in combination URFC

碩士
元智大學
機械工程學系
96
The key technology on development of the unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC) is in catalysts. Therefore, besides the enhancement of catalysts to improve the performance, reduction in the use of catalyst to decrease the cost of system has become the most important issue. This study has attempted to introduce the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the catalyst, based on the fact that CNTs have uniform structure and excellent conductivity. This is expected that the catalyst would have good dispersion on CNT surface, thus the high performance of URFC and the decrease in the catalyst use can be achieved. The impregnation method was employed to prepare the Pt and Pt-Ir catalysts, and the chemical vapor deposition method was used to synthesize the multi-walled carbon nanotubes. And then the catalyst/CNTs composite materials were prepared. All materials were characterized by surface techniques. Next, several sets of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) were made and the performance of URFC on water electrolysis and fuel cell modes were tested. The results show that the Pt catalyst from impregnation method has a purity of about 99 %, and the purity of Pt-Ir catalyst is approximately 96 %. Both the mean particle sizes of Pt and Pt-Ir catalysts were in the range of 5-10 nm. The XRD patterns indicate Pt (or Pt-Ir) catalyst displays the Pt (or Pt and Ir) fcc structure. The TEM images show that the as-grown CNTs are long and spaghetti-like with a diameter of probably 30-80 nm. The HRTEM images of catalyst/CNT composite also manifest the good dispersion of the catalyst on CNT surface. The test results of URFC show that in fuel cell mode the best capacity occurs as both oxygen and hydrogen electrodes are added the commercial CNTs. In water electrolysis mode, introduction of pCNT onto both electrodes perform the best capacity, which is even superior to that of the MEA composed of noble metals. In view of the hydrogen production, introduction of CNTs only on oxygen electrode can achieve stable and the highest yield.

Thesis (M. Tech. - (Engineering: Electrical, Department: Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology)) -- Vaal University of Technology, 2011.
“Never before in peacetime have we faced such serious and widespread shortage of energy” according to John Emerson, an economist and power expert for Chase Manhattan Bank. Many analysts believe that the problem will be temporary, but others believe the energy gap will limit economic growth for years to come. A possible solution to this problem can be fuel cell technology. Fuel cells (FCs) are energy conversion devices that generate electricity from a fuel like hydrogen. The FC however, could also be used in the reverse or regenerative mode to produce hydrogen. The reversible fuel cell (RFC) can produce hydrogen and oxygen by introducing water to the anode electrode chamber, and applying a potential across the anode and cathode. This will cause the decomposition of the water to produce oxygen at the anode side and hydrogen at the cathode side. In order to make this process as efficient as possible several aspects need to be optimised, for example, the operation temperature of the RFC, water management inside the RFC and supply voltage to the RFC. A three cell RFC and its components were constructed. The three cell RFC was chosen owing to technical reasons. The design factors that were taken into consideration were the different types of membranes, electrocatalysts, bipolar plates and flow topologies. A water trap was also designed and constructed to eliminate the water from the hydrogen water mixture due to water crossover within the MEA. In order to optimise the operation of the RFC a number of experiments were done on the RFC. These experiments included the optimal operating voltage, the effect that the temperature has on the production rate of hydrogen, and the effect that the water flow through the RFC has on the production rate of hydrogen. It was found that there is no need to control the water flow through the RFC because it had no effect on the production rate of hydrogen. The results also showed that if the operating temperature of the RFC were increased, the energy it consumes to warm the RFC significantly decreases the efficiency of the whole system. Thus the RFC need not be heated because it consumes significantly more energy to heat the RFC compared to the energy available from the hydrogen produced for later use. The optimised operating voltage for the three cell RFC was found to be 5.05 V. If the voltage were to be increased or decreased the RFC efficiency would decrease.

Thesis (M. Tech. - (Engineering: Electrical, Department: Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology))--Vaal University of Technology.
Industrial countries, such as South Africa, rely heavily on energy sources to function profitably in today’s economy. Based on the 2008 fossil fuel CO2 emissions South Africa was rated the 13th largest emitting country and also the largest emitting country on the continent of Africa, and is still increasing. It was found that fuel cells can be used to generate electricity and that hydrogen is a promising fuel source. A fuel cell is an energy generation device that uses pure hydrogen (99.999%) and oxygen as a fuel to produce electric power. A regenerative fuel cell is a fuel cell that runs in reverse mode, which consumes electricity and water to produce hydrogen. This research was aimed at designing and constructing an optimised control system to control the hydrogen pressure in a proton exchange membrane regenerative fuel cell. The hydrogen generated by the fuel cell must be stored in order to be used at a later stage to produce electricity. A control system has been designed and constructed to optimise the hydrogen pressure control in a regenerative proton exchange membrane fuel cell. An experiment that was done to optimise the hydrogen system included the effects that the cathode chamber pressure has on the production of hydrogen and the most effective method of supplying hydrogen to a storage tank. The experiment also included the effects of a hydrogen buffer tank on the output hydrogen pressure and if the system can accommodate different output pressures. It was found that the cathode chamber pressure doesn’t need to be controlled because it has no effect on the rate of hydrogen produced. The results also showed that the flow of hydrogen need not to be controlled to be stored in a hydrogen storage tank, the best method is to let the produced hydrogen flow freely into the tank. The hydrogen produced was also confirmed to be 99.999% pure. The system was also tested at different output pressures; the control system successfully regulated these different output pressures.

M. Tech. (Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology) --Vaal University of Technology|
Global warming is of increasing concern due to several greenhouse gases. The combustion of fossil fuels is the major contributor to the greenhouse effect. To minimalise this effect, alternative energy sources have to be considered. Alternative energy sources should not only be environmentally friendly, but also renewable and/or sustainable. Two such alternative energy sources are hydrogen and solar energy. The regenerative fuel cell, commonly known as a hydrogen generator, is used to produce hydrogen. The current solar/hydrogen system at the Vaal University of Technology’s Telkom Centre of Excellence makes use of PV array to supply power to an inverter and the inverter is connected to the hydrogen generator. The inverter provides the hydrogen generator with 220VAC. The hydrogen generator has its own power supply unit to convert the AC power back to DC power. This reduces the efficiency of the system because there will be power loss when converting DC power to AC power and back to DC power. The hydrogen generator, however, could be powered directly from a PV array. However, the hydrogen generator needs specific input parameters in order to operate. Three different input voltages with their own current rating are required by the hydrogen generator to operate properly. Thus, a DC-DC power supply unit needs to be designed to be able to output these parameters to the hydrogen generator. It is also important to note that current PV panel efficiency is very low; therefore, the DC-DC power supply unit also needs to extract the maximum available power from the PV array. In order for the DC-DC power supply unit to be able to extract this maximum power, a maximum power point tracking algorithm needs to be implemented into the design. The DC-DC power supply is designed as a switch mode power supply unit. The reason for this is that the efficiency of a switch mode power supply is higher than that of a linear power supply. To reach the objective the following methodology was followed. The first part of the research provided an introduction to PV energy, charge controllers and hydrogen generators. The problem statement is included as well as the purpose of this research and how this research was to be carried out. The second part is the literature review. This includes the background study of algorithms implemented in MPPT’s; it also explains in detail how to design the MPPT DC-DC SMPS. The third part was divided into two sections. The first section is the design, programming and manufacturing of the MPPT DC-DC SMPS. The second section is the simulation of the system as a whole which is the simulation of the PV array connected to the MPPT DC-DC SMPS and the hydrogen generator. The fourth part in the research compared the results obtained in the simulation and practical setup. The last part of the research provided a conclusion along with recommendation made for further research. The simulation results showed that the system works with an efficiency of 40,84%. This is lower than expected but the design can be optimised to increase efficiency. The practical results showed the efficiency to be 38%. The reason for the lower efficiency is the simulation used ideal components and parameters, whereas the practical design has power losses due to the components not being ideal. The design of the DC-DC switch mode power supply, however, indicated that the hydrogen generator could be powered from a PV array without using an inverter, with great success.

A test system for the performance analysis of a novel thermally regenerative fuel cell (TRFC) using propiophenone and hydrogen as the oxidant and fuel respectively was designed and built. The test system is capable of either hydrogen-air or hydrogen-propiophenone operation. Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were made using commercial phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes and commercial electrodes. Using Pt/carbon paper electrodes with a catalyst loading of 1mg/cm2 and a membrane with an acid doping level of 10.2 mol acid/mol of polymer repeat unit, a maximum performance of 212 mW/cm2 at a current density of 575 mA/cm2 was achieved for baseline hydrogen-air testing at 110°C. Problems were encountered, however, in achieving consistent, reproducible performance for in-house fabricated MEAs. Furthermore, ex-situ electrochemical impedance spectrometry (EIS) showed that the phosphoric acid-doped PBI was unstable in the propiophenone and that acid-leaching was occurring. In order to have MEAs with consistent characteristics for verifying the test system performance, commercial phosphoric acid-doped PBI membrane electrode assemblies were used. At a temperature of 160°C and atmospheric pressure with hydrogen and air flowrates of 150 mL/min and 900 mL/min respectively a maximum power density of 387 mW/cm2 at a current density of 1.1 A/cm2 was achieved. This performance was consistent with the manufacturer’s specifications and these MEAs were subsequently used to verify the performance of TRFC test system despite the EIS results that indicated that acid-leaching would probably occur. The Pt catalyzed commercial MEAs achieved very limited performance for the hydrogenation of the ketone. However, the performance was less than but comparable to similar results previously reported in the literature by Chaurasia et al. [1]. For pure Pt catalyst loading of 1 mg/cm2, using a commercial PBI MEA operating at 160°C and atmospheric pressure, the maximum power density was 40 µW/cm2 at a current density of 1.3 mA/cm2. A 16 hour test was conducted for these conditions with a constant 1 ohm load, successfully demonstrating the operation of the test system. The test system will be used in the development of better catalysts for ketone hydrogenation.
Thesis (Master, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-12 10:00:58.854