MASTERS OF ENGINEERING

PROFESSIONAL
DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
ASSIGNMENT 1
LITERATURE
REVIEW
SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. TIM BODISCO PORAS THAKUR

(217225259)

Temperature control in a poly electrolyte membrane fuel cell.

"External forces have played an important part in deciding the fate of fuel cells over the last
century. Their popularity had fluctuations due to the use and efficiencies of the then
prevailing approaches to generate energy" (Fuller, 2002.).

"But these days, due to the rapid decline of non renewable energy resources, the energy
problems are taking their toll globally. This scarce of energy has vouched for an immediate
use of renewable energy resources. Proton Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell is the one
of the pioneers in this field that uses hydrogen/methanol as fuel and generates electrical
energy from chemical energy and also produces heat" (Taner, 2015).

"Fuel cells with methanol are used for portable appliances that have low power requirements
whereas the ones using hydrogen are used for applications that work towards energy
efficiency and have high power densities"(Chunzhi He, 2005).

"Because of their high power density, clean function, less weight and negligible pollution
generation, PEM fuel cells are used for both mobile and stationary applications. In a typical
PEM fuel cell, hydrogen fuel is made available through anode and air or pure oxygen is
injected by cathode. A solid electrolyte is used to separate both electrodes which avoids
electron circulation and allows ionic conduction. Reduction of oxygen takes place at positive
electrode and oxidation of hydrogen takes place at negative electrode" (C Kunusch, 2012).

"Temperature plays a vital role in deciding the fate of the functioning of a fuel cell. Whether
it be the operating temperature or the temperature inside the fuel cell. In most of the cases,
Pem fuel cells have low operating temperature which promotes the use of cheaper materials
and the smaller thermo cycles assures lesser degradation. Some important aspects like the
water content in the catalyst layer and in the membrane ionomer are firmly affected by the
fuel cell temperature. Temperature also effects transportation of water in the catalyst layer
which is based on absorption and desorption. For other processes like maintaining proper
humidification of the catalyst layer and hence its ideal performance, temperature control
inside the fuel cell is necessary. As a lower temperature may cause flooding and can reduce
the reaction kinetics, whereas, an increased temperature can escalate the degradation of
catalyst and membrane and can even lower the stack performance. In short we can say, water
management inside the fuel cell is influenced by the temperature as well" (S. Strahl, n.d.).

"They work in a range of temperature mainly 60-80 C, but can tolerate a small variation
only. This range, is mainly imposed by Nafion (which is a material property). Its hydration
requirement restricts the maximum temperature at 80 C to have high conductivity of
protons. Moreover, a cell temperature lesser than 60 C can cause voltage loss due to increased
resistance to transportation of reactant mass by flooding the electrodes. These strict thermal
regulations pose a significant problem for heat transport" (Satish G. Kandlikar, 2009).

"Moreover, at temperature above the mentioned, even the properties of PFSA membrane
deteriorates. A study shows, that at 80 C there is a 10-fold decrease in the conductivity as
compared to that at 60 C. Other things like dehydration of membrane, decreased affinity for
water, parasitic losses, weakening of polymer backbone occurs at temperature beyond 80 C.
However, apart from all these phenomena , fuel cell operation is said to be improved at
elevated temperature" (Cooper, 2003).

Above that figuring out the ambient temperature for humidification of reactant gas is
considered crucial for stable performance of the fuel cell for a longer time. This temperature
should be 5-10C more than the operating temperature to avoid dehydration of membrane"
(Chi-chang chen, 2017).

Additionally, "the Start up shut down(SUSD) degradation rate for graphitized C MEA's
declines faster at 80C and room temperature but at low temperatures it shows a weaker
dependence on temperature. As a result, graphitized carbon support loses its stability
advantage over the conventional support , as below the room temperature, the SUSD
degradation rates of both of them approaches each other"
(Thomas Mittermeier, n.d.).

Another study that reveal the temperature conflicts tells us that, "The operating temperature
should be in between 50 and 90C. Even the high power densities are obtained at high
operating temperatures only while operating the cell at lower temperature it difficult to reject
heat in the environment, especially in hotter surroundings. So, before selecting the operating
temperature, several things should be taken into consideration, like positive water balance,
high efficiency and small size of component"(Bhaskar Balasubramanian, n.d.).

Substitutes.
"The High Temperature-PEM fuel cell(HT-PEMFC) uses polybenzimidazole and for
membrane material it uses phosphoric acid. It operates in a temperature range of 120-200C
which provides advantages like tolerance of CO content at anode terminal can be increased,
no need to use very pure hydrogen as fuel, simplification of water management, it simplifies
the heat sinking of fuel cell, hydrogen can be generated by combining it to reformer and even
the system can be applied to large motor vehicles"(Chi-yuan lee, 2017).
Apart from the escalated temperature, " HT-PEMFC functions similarly as a PEMFC and the
working principle is governed by the same half cell reactions" (Simon Araya, 2012).

"HT-PEMFCs are even considered a promising system for distributed cogeneration of

electricity and heat by using hydrogen as fuel but only on a small scale. Moreover, HT-
PEMFCs show low performance as compared to fuel cells operating at low temperatures"
(Alexandra Wei, 2017).

"The elevated temperature causes catalytic degradation. The increased size of the particle
reduces the catalyst ECSA which results in degrading the performance of the fuel cell whose
kinetics increases with increase in temperature. A study showed that, rapid growth of
platinum particles occurred in high temperature environment which sped the dissolution and
re-deposition of platinum. Besides that, it is proven that carbon corrosion accelerates at high
temperature operations resulting in deteriorating the carbon support. Additionally, a faster
pace of membrane degradation is expected in HT-PEMFC because of their elevated operating
temperature" (Simon Araya, 2012).

Another study, "describing the temperature as a decisive factor says that low temperature
lessens the degradation process as no increment in hydrogen crossover was measured by plug
power at 50C. Additionally, high temperature(95C) and reduced humidity leads to
escalation in the degradation rate. A further study of membrane stability, which was carried
out at reduced humidity(<50%) showed that, at elevated temperature(~120C) chemical
degradation will occur at a faster rate as compared to ideal conditions" (F.A. de bruijn, 2006).

"There is still a lack of knowledge about the temperature control in a fuel system which
works without humidifying the reactant. Moreover, the information regarding the connection
between temperature management and understanding of humidification of catalyst layer has
not been explored successfully" (S. Strahl, n.d.).

Though, even after being such a crucial aspect, there is no ideal temperature that can be
chosen for the efficient working of the fuel cell. Fuel cells are viewed as the future of energy
resources as the pre-existing ones have no chance of survival, because they are non
renewable and are being used at a rapid pace. So, it is important to evaluate the proper
approach to solve this problem of temperature control.

References:
Alexandra Wei, S. S. S. G. M. A. D. Z., 2017. Distribution of Relaxation Times
Analysis of High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cell Impedance Spectra. Electrochimica
Acta, Volume 230, pp. 391-398.

Bhaskar Balasubramanian, F. B. a. J. N., n.d. OPTIMAL OPERATING TEMPERATURE

AND PRESSURE OF PEM FUEL CELL. [Online]
Available at: https://web.anl.gov/PCS/acsfuel/preprint%20archive/Files/44_4_NEW
%20ORLEANS_08-99_0977.pdf
[Accessed 2 April 2017].
C Kunusch, P. P. M. M., 2012. PEM Fuel Cell Systems. In: Sliding mode control of
PEM fuel cells.. s.l.:Springer, pp. 1-22.

Chi-chang chen, K.-L. H. a. D. S., 2017. Optimization of the electrodes

humidification temperature and clamping pressure to achieve uniform current
density in a commercial-sized proton exchange membrane fuel cell. International
Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 42(5), pp. 3185-3196.

Chi-yuan lee, Y.-C. C. F.-B. W. S.-C. L. P.-H. W. H.-I. Y., 2017. Flexible micro
temperature, voltage and current sensors for local real-time microscopic
diagnosis inside high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack.
Renewable energy, Volume 108, pp. 126-131.

Chunzhi He, S. D. G. B. a. S. B., 2005. PEM Fuel Cell Catalysts. In: The
Electrochemical Society Interface. s.l.:s.n., pp. 41-44.

Cooper, V. M. a. J. S., 2003. Review and analysis of PEM fuel cell design and
manufacturing. Journal of power sources, 114(1), pp. 32-53.

F.A. de bruijn, V. d. a. G. j., 2006. Review: Durability and DegradationIssues of

PEM Fuel Cell Components. Fuel cells from fundametals to systems, pp. 1-20.

Fuller, M. L. P. a. T. F., 2002.. A Historical Perspective of Fuel Cell Technology. The

Electrochemical Society, 149 (7), pp. S59-S67.

S. Strahl, A. H. P. P. a. J., n.d. www.iri.upc.edu. [Online]

Available at: http://www.iri.upc.edu/files/scidoc/1490-Performance-Improvement-
by-Temperature-Control-of-an-Open--Cathode-PEM-Fuel-Cell-System.pdf
[Accessed 2 April 2017].

S. Strahl, P. P. H. J. R., n.d. www.iri.upc.edu. [Online]

Available at: http://www.iri.upc.edu/files/scidoc/1490-Performance-Improvement-
by-Temperature-Control-of-an-Open--Cathode-PEM-Fuel-Cell-System.pdf
[Accessed 2 april 2017].

Satish G. Kandlikar, Z. L., 2009. Thermal management issues in a PEMFC stack

A brief review of current status. Applied Thermal Engineering, Volume 29, p.
12761280.

Simon Araya, S., 2012. High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells - Degradation and
Durability. AALBORG: AALBORG UNIVERSITET.

Taner, T., 2015. Alternative Energy of the Future: A Technical Note of PEM Fuel
Cell Water. Fundamentals of Renewable, 5(3), pp. 1-4.

Thomas Mittermeier, A. W. F. H. G. H., n.d. PEM Fuel Cell Start-up/Shut-down

Losses vs Temperature for Non-Graphitized and Graphitized Cathode Carbon
Supports. Journal for the electrochemical society..