Increasing Fuel Efficiency of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Systems with Feedforward Control of the Operating Concentration

Youngseung Na, Federico Zenith and Ulrike Krewer
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Youngseung Na: Institute of Energy and Process Systems Engineering, TU Braunschweig, Franz-Liszt-Str. 35, Braunschweig 38106, Germany
Federico Zenith: SINTEF Applied Cybernetics, PO Box 4760 Sluppen, Trondheim NO-7465, Norway
Ulrike Krewer: Institute of Energy and Process Systems Engineering, TU Braunschweig, Franz-Liszt-Str. 35, Braunschweig 38106, Germany

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: Most of the R&D on fuel cells for portable applications concentrates on increasing efficiencies and energy densities to compete with other energy storage devices, especially batteries. To improve the efficiency of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) systems, several modifications to system layouts and operating strategies are considered in this paper, rather than modifications to the fuel cell itself. Two modified DMFC systems are presented, one with an additional inline mixer and a further modification of it with a separate tank to recover condensed water. The set point for methanol concentration control in the solution is determined by fuel efficiency and varies with the current and other process variables. Feedforward concentration control enables variable concentration for dynamic loads. Simulation results were validated experimentally with fuel cell systems.

Keywords: fuel cell system; concentration; control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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