Theoretical Analysis for Improving the Efficiency of HT-PEMFC through Unreacted Hydrogen Circulation

Sanghyoun Park, Sangyong Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

To increase the efficiency of a fuel processor and HT-PEMFC (high temperature-proton exchange membrane fuel cell) combined system, it is essential to improve the efficiency of the fuel processor. In this research, the fuel processor was simulated by the Aspen Hysys® simulator, and the effect of the various operating conditions on the total efficiency was investigated. The thermal efficiency of the fuel processor increased as the temperature and S/C (steam-to-carbon) ratio increased, and the efficiency was higher at an S/C ratio of 3 than at an S/C of 4 with a reformer temperature of 700 °C and higher. Under the selected operating conditions of the fuel processor, the recycling of unreacted hydrogen from the anode off-gas (AOG) of the HT-PEMFC improved the overall efficiency of the combined fuel processor and HT-PEMFC by a factor of 1.28. The operating conditions where the AOG supplied more heat than was required for fuel processor operation were excluded. The high-efficiency operating conditions of the fuel cell system were proposed with the target of 5 kW of output as the capacity of the household HT-PEMFC.

Original languageEnglish
Article number9292
JournalApplied Sciences (Switzerland)
Volume13
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2023

Keywords

  • fuel cell
  • fuel processor
  • residential HT-PEMFC
  • steam reformer
  • water–gas shift reactor

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