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