Automotive fuel cell

Ahluwalia, R.K., Sodium alanate hydrogen storage system for automotive fuel cells, Int.. Hydrogen Energ, 32(9), 1251-1261, 2007. 

R. Westerholm, L.J. Pettersson, State of the Art Multi-Fuel Reformers for Automotive Fuel Cell Applications Problem Identification and Research Needs, KFB Swedish Transport Communications Research Board, Stockholm, October 31, 1999. 

The report noted that the automotive fuel cell is being pushed along due to the almost 2 billion international investment and that fuel cells would provide an environmentally superior and more efficient automobile engine. 

Most automotive fuel cells use a thin, fluorocarbon-based polymer to separate the electrodes. This is the proton exchange membrane (PEM) that gives this type of fuel cell its name. The polymer provides the electrolyte for charge transport as well as the physical barrier to block the mixing... 

The use of graphitized carbons can impart significant stability to high-voltage excursions and appears suitable for automotive fuel cell use. However, a number of workers have reported fhaf the performance of Pt on these supports is poorer than that found for conventional Pt catalysts. For example. 

The author is associated with Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation (AFCC). AFCC is owned by Daimler, Ford, and Ballard Power Systems. The company was established in February, 2008 and is mainly based on the automotive fuel cell division of the previous Ballard Power Systems. 

Ning et al., 1999 Parker et al., 2004 Cao and Bergens, 2004 He et al., 2004 Seiler et al., 2004 Jusys and Behm, 2004). The new catalysts will be used in the onboard fuel reformer of an automotive fuel cell system to convert gasoline, or other hydrocarbon fuels, into hydrogen-rich gas. 

Dynamic characteristics of a fuel cell engine are of paramount importance for automotive application. Three primary processes govern the time response of a PEFC. They are (1) electrochemical double-layer discharging, (2) gas transport through channel and GDL, and (3) membrane hydration or dehydration (i.e., between a dry and a hydrated state). The time constant of double-layer discharging is between micro- and milliseconds, sufficiently short to be safely ignored for automotive fuel cells. The time constant for a reactant gas to transport through GDL can be estimated simply by its diffusion time, i.e.,... 

DREaMCAR - The primary objective of the project is to develop highly efficient, low emission automotive fuel cell propulsion systems that meet customer requirements in terms of cost and performance. 

Two major barriers to the commercialization of PEM fuel cells are high cost and poor durability. The US Department of Energy has established the durability target of electrolyte membranes for automotive fuel cells at 5,000 h and for stationary fuel cells at 40,000 h with additional cost constraints and operation requirements. In commercial applications, the integrity of fuel cell membranes must... 

M. Quintus et al., Chemical membrane degradation in automotive fuel cell -Mechanisms and mitigation, 2nd Annual International Symposium on Fuel Cell Durability Performance, Miami Beach, FL,7-8 Dec 2006... 

For most mobile applications size and weight of the fuel cell is very important. Automotive fuel cell stacks have gravimetric and volumetric power density >1 kW/kg and >1 kW/1, respectively. For smaller stacks <10 kW, power density is significantly lower. 

Danial Doss, E. Kumar, R. Ahluwalia, R. K. Krumpelt, M. Fuel processor for automotive fuel cell system a parametric analysis. Journal of Power Sources 102, (2001), 1-15. 

The near-term prospects for fuel cell vehicles were also overhyped in the late 1990s. In November 2002, a major study titled Hybrid Competitive Automobile Powerplants concluded, The industry is currently experiencing a backlash to the just around the corner hype that has surrounded the automotive fuel cell in recent years. 6... 

Small-scale reforming systems are being pursued by a number of companies developing fuel cell electrical generation systems for home and automotive fuel cell applications. Before these systems become affordable and simple enough to be used as home electrical system components, they may be cost effective for industrial hydrogen supply systems.48... 

Given these requirements, hybrid and nonhybrid PEMFC systems are the leading contenders for automotive fuel cell power, with additional attention focusing on the direct-methanol fuel cell (DMFC) version of the technology and the possibility of using solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems as auxiliary power units for cars and trucks. 

Despite great improvements in fuel cell technologies over the past decade and demonstration of promising performance, both stationary and automotive fuel cell systems still face large challenges. These primarily involve cost reduction costs on the order of 500 to 800/kW-peak are required for competitive stationary systems, and costs on the order of 50 to 100/kW-peak are required for competitive FCVs. These cost levels are far below current levels for various fuel cell technologies that are in prototype and low-volume production. Additional challenges include fuel cell... 

Kanaoka, N., Development of MEA for next generation automotive fuel cells at Honda, in Extended Abstracts of2006 Fuel Cell Seminar, Honolulu, HI, 2006, p. 49. 

As most current automotive fuel cell efforts use proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, these will be described in a little more detail in this section and will be used as templates for the performance calculations presented in section 4.1.3. A typical passenger car PEM fuel cell system is depicted in Fig. 4.2. Included are heaters for bringing the equipment from ambient temperatures to the operating temperature of around 80°C and humidifiers for ensuring the level of water in the membrane and electrode areas required for... 

Maxoulis, C., Tsinoglou, D., Koltsakis, G. (2004). Modeling of automotive fuel cell operation in driving cycles. Energy Conversion Management 45,559-573. 

Castaldi, M.J., Roychoudhury, S., Boorse, R.S., Karim, H., LaPierre, R., and Pfefferle, W.C. Fuel Processing Session I. In Compact, Lightweight Preferential CO Oxidation (PROX) Reactor Development and Design for PEM Automotive Fuel Cell Applications. Proceedings from the 2003 Spring National Meeting and Process Industries Exposition (ed. AIChE). New Orleans, LA AIChE, March 30-April 3, 2003. 

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