Fuel cell testing combinations

Supported nanoparticles are the main catalysts used in current fuel cell devices. The combined DFT, single crystal, polycrystalline, and electrochemical experiments demonstrated that WC and Pt/WC have catalytic properties that are promising for use as anode DMFC electrocatalysts. These fundamental results still left questions unanswered as to how these materials could be incorporated into a realistic device. These questions led to studies of WC and Pt/WC nanoparticles in a fuel cell test station [23]. The WC nanoparticles were obtained from Japan New Metals Company. The Pt/WC nanoparticles were prepared with a 10 wt% Pt loading using incipient... 

There are few reports of fuel cells with BaZrOs-based (e.g., BZY) electrolytes. Acceptor-doped mixed barium zirconate cerates Ba(Zr,Ce)03 have been investigated for their better stability of the zirconate combined with the better grain boundary conduction of the cerate [74], but fuel cell tests have not given... 

The 25 kilowatt system is back on test at the National Fuel Cell Research Center. The unit typically operates at 21.7 kW DC and 173 amperes. The unit has operated at two facilities on various fuels for a combined time of more than 9,500 hours. Support for this test is provided by Wright Patterson Air Force Base. 

Siemens-Westinghouse Power Corporation of Pittsburgh, PA developed and fabricated the first advanced power plant to combine a solid oxide fuel cell and a gas turbine. The microturbine generator was manufactured by Northern Research and Engineering Corporation of Woburn, Mass. The factory acceptance test was completed in April 2000. Southern California Edison will operate the new hybrid plant at The National Fuel Cell Research Center at the University of California-Irvine. A year of testing in a commercial setting will be performed at this site. The system cycle is expected to generate electric power at 55 % efficiency. 

It is important to note that Vie and Kjelstrup [250] designed a method of measuring fhe fhermal conductivities of different components of a fuel cell while fhe cell was rurming (i.e., in situ tests). They added four thermocouples inside an MEA (i.e., an invasive method) one on each side of the membrane and one on each diffusion layer (on the surface facing the FF channels). The temperature values from the thermocouples near the membrane and in the DL were used to calculate the average thermal conductivity of the DL and CL using Fourier s law. Unfortunately, the thermal conductivity values presented in their work were given for both the DL and CL combined. Therefore, these values are useful for mathematical models but not to determine the exact thermal characteristics of different DLs. 

Soler, Hontanon, and Daza [268] tested two different FF designs with a number of carbon fiber paper and carbon cloth DLs in order to determine the best combination. They measured the pressure drop of the flow field in a nonactive fuel cell with each DL material with oxygen, air, and nitrogen. The researchers... 

Galvanostatic discharge of a fuel cell (MRED method) provided information related to liquid water in a fuel cell in a minimally invasive manner.157 Stumper et al.158 showed that through a combination of this MRED method with a current mapping (segmented fuel cell similar to the one discussed in Stumper et al.135), it was possible to obtain the local membrane water content distribution across the cell area. The test cell was operated with a current collection plate segmented on the cathode along the reactant flow direction. In addition to the pure ohmic resistance, this experimental setup allowed the determination of the free gas volume of the unit cell (between the inlet and outlet valves). Furthermore, the total amount of liquid water presented in the anode or cathode compartment was obtained. 

Various combinations of applications, including different choices of photovoltaic panels and electrolysers were tested. The cumulative operating times logged for the various plant subsystems differed considerably according to the test programs run, ranging from 6000 h for the alkaline low-pressure electrolyser, to 2000 h for the membrane electrolyser, 5200 h for the catalytic heater, 3900 h for the PAFC fuel cell plant and 900 h for the LH2 filling station. 

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