Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7725199 | Journal of Power Sources | 2018 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
In this paper, an integrated reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) as a portable power source is designed, fabricated and tested. The RMFC consists of a methanol steam reformer (MSR), a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) stack, a microcontroller unit (MCU) and other auxiliaries. First, a system model based on Matlab/Simulink is established to investigate the mass and energy transport characteristics within the whole system. The simulation results suggest a hydrogen flow rate of at least 670 sccm is needed for the system to output 30â¯W and simultaneously maintain thermal equilibrium. Second, a metallic MSR and an HT-PEMFC stack with 12â¯cells are fabricated and tested. The tests show that the RMFC system is able to function normally when the performances of all the components meet the minimum requirements. At last, in the experiment of successfully powering a laptop, the RMFC system exhibits a stable performance during the complete work flow of all the phases, namely start-up, output and shutdown. Moreover, with a conservative design of 20â¯W power rating, maximum energy conversion efficiency of the RMFC system can be achieved (36%), and good stability in long-term operation is shown.
Keywords
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemistry
Electrochemistry
Authors
Shubin Zhang, Yufeng Zhang, Junyu Chen, Congwen Yin, Xiaowei Liu,