Faculty Advisor
Datta, Ravindra
Center
NF / Nancy, France (MQP)
Abstract
Fuel cell degradation and defects are factors that prohibit the commercialization of fuel cells. To understand how fuel cells may degrade, they are tested with and without defects to simulate real world applications. By analyzing degradation patterns of a fuel cell stack, operating conditions and geometry within a stack can be optimized. Preliminary work analyzed a three-cell stack of healthy polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) under steady state conditions for four weeks. The voltage, resistance and water production of this stack were monitored each day to characterize degradation and aging. Further efforts utilized theoretical modeling to predict fuel cell performance of a single cell.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
February 2012
Major
Chemical Engineering
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
All authors have granted to WPI a nonexclusive royalty-free license to distribute copies of the work, subject to other agreements. Copyright is held by the author or authors, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted.
Accessibility
Unrestricted
Advisor Department
Chemical Engineering