PEM Fuel Cell

– A case Study in Hysis Platform

Vinay K Sachan & Subhasish Mitra

Department of Chemical Engineering
IIT Kanpur
Motivation:

Faster depletion of fossil fuels coupled with global

warming issue.

Hydrogen appears to be the most promising fuel which is

inherently clean & green.

With changing demands, distributed hydrogen economy

is envisaged.

Fuel cell drawing attention in various application areas

e.g. micro-power, auxiliary power, transportation power,
stationary power etc. as an efficient device for utilizing
hydrogen potential.
 Fuel Cell Principle:

First demonstrated in principle by British Scientist Sir

Willliam Robert Grove in 1839. The invention was
based on idea of reverse electrolysis.

In general, a fuel cell consists of two electrodes -

Anode and Cathode.

Hydrogen and Oxygen are fed into the cell.

Catalyst at Anode causes hydrogen atoms to give up

electrons leaving positively charged protons.
 Fuel Cell Principle (Contd.):

Oxygen ions at Cathode side attract the hydrogen

protons.

Protons pass through electrolyte membrane.

Electrons are redirected to Cathode through external

circuit.

This leads to production of electrical power.

Fuel Cell Working Mechanism:
Fuel Processor: [1]

Catalyst:
ATR: PdO on Al2O3/CeO2
HTS : Fe/Cr
LTS : Cu/Zn/Al
PROX : Ru/Pt

[1]. Simulation study of a PEM fuel cell system with autothermal reforming,
Atilla Ersoz, Hayati Olgun, Sibel Ozdogan, Energy 31 (2006), 1490 - 1500
Simulation Flow Sheet Data: [1]

Active cell area

is 400 cm2

[1]. Simulation study of a PEM fuel cell system with autothermal reforming,
Atilla Ersoz, Hayati Olgun, Sibel Ozdogan, Energy 31 (2006), 1490 - 1500
Simulation Flow Sheet Data: [1]

P1,P2,P3: Pumps, AC : Air Compressor, E : Power Turbine,

HE : Heat Recovery Hx, COM : Combustor, C : Exhaust Stack

[1]. Simulation study of a PEM fuel cell system with autothermal reforming,
Atilla Ersoz, Hayati Olgun, Sibel Ozdogan, Energy 31 (2006), 1490 - 1500
Modeling Strategy:

Process Simulator:
Hysis Version: 2006

Thermodynamic model:
Vapor phase : Peng-Robinson EOS (suitable for
hydrocarbons)

Unit operations:
ATR, HTS, LTS, Combustor : Gibbs reactor
PROX, Fuel Cell Cathode : Conversion Reactor
Fuel Cell Anode : Separator
Fuel Processor Plant Simulation Diagram:

CO clean up section

Heat
recovery-II

Heat PEM Fuel Cell

recovery-I

Feed section
Fuel Cell Cooling
Unit
 PEM Fuel Cell Simulation Diagram:

Cooling loop

Anode block
Cathode Combustor
block block
System Efficiency Calculations: [1]

[1]. Simulation study of a PEM fuel cell system with autothermal reforming,
Atilla Ersoz, Hayati Olgun, Sibel Ozdogan, Energy 31 (2006), 1490 - 1500
 Fuel Cell Polarization Curve:

Generalized polarization curve for a fuel cell The single cell polarization curve
showing regions dominated by various types taken for calculation.
of losses.

[1]. Simulation study of a PEM fuel cell system with autothermal reforming,
Atilla Ersoz, Hayati Olgun, Sibel Ozdogan, Energy 31 (2006), 1490 - 1500
Fuel Cell Polarization Curve – Curve Fitting:

PEM fuel cell characteristics

y = -9E-10x 3 + 2E-05x 2 - 0.1076x + 1006.4 A third order
R2 = 0.9921
1200
polynomial is fitted to
describe cell voltage
1000
and current density
Cell Voltage (mV)

800 relationship.
600

400

200

0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Current density (A/m 2)
 Overall System Efficiency Comparison:
•Total energy generated (PEMFC + Power Turbine) by the
system is 100 Kw – claimed in the reference [1]
•PEMFC power calculation as a function of H2 generated not shown.
• PEMFC power (Pcell) is calculated using the following reference [2]
Pcell = Molar flow rate of H2 X LHV of H2 X electrochemical efficiency

Using this with electrochemical efficiency 0.6

Pcell : 54.21 kW , Ppower turbine : 16 kW, Total energy : 70.21 kW
Global system efficiency : 0.2473
Pe : Power generated by the fuel cell system
Pa : Auxiliary power consumption
Molar flow rate & LHV will be for liquid fuel instead of CH4

[2]. L. Salemme, L. Menna, M. Simeone, Analysis of energy efficiency of innovative ATR based PEM fuel cell system
with hydrogen membrane separation, International journal of hydrogen energy 34(2009) 6384-6392.
Section Wise System Efficiency Comparison:

No of cells 1000 No of cells 500

Section Ref-efficiency Simulated - efficiency Section Ref-efficiency Simulated - efficiency
1 0.77 0.768 1 0.77 0.768
2 0.76 0.8072 2 0.76 0.8072
3 0.745 0.8016 3 0.745 0.8016
4 0.74 0.7806 4 0.74 0.7806
5 0.735 0.7687 5 0.735 0.7687
6 0.501 0.5584 6 0.434 0.5352
7 0.344 0.3816 7 0.344 0.3657

No of cells 750 No of cells 1250

Section Ref-efficiency Simulated - efficiency Section Ref-efficiency Simulated - efficiency
1 0.77 0.768 1 0.77 0.768
2 0.76 0.8072 2 0.76 0.8072
3 0.745 0.8016 3 0.745 0.8016
4 0.74 0.7806 4 0.74 0.7806
5 0.735 0.7687 5 0.735 0.7687
6 0.484 0.5447 6 0.517 0.5699
7 0.344 0.3722 7 0.368 0.3894
System Efficiency Comparison:
Comparison of system efficiency - No of Cells 500 Comparison of system efficiency - No of Cells 750

1 1

0.8 0.8
Efficiency

Efficiency
0.6 Ref-efficiency 0.6 Ref-efficiency
0.4 Simulated efficiency 0.4 Simulated efficiency

0.2 0.2

0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
System section System section

Comparison of system efficiency Comparison of system efficiency

- No of Cells 1000 - No of Cells 1250

1 1
0.8 0.8
Efficiency

0.6 Ref-efficiency Efficiency 0.6 Ref-efficiency

0.4 Simulated efficiency 0.4 Simulated efficiency
0.2 0.2
0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
System section System section

Efficiency : Ratio of outlet & inlet heat content in a section.

Section 1:Liquid fuel, Section 2: ATR, Section 3: HTS, Section 4: LTS, Section 5: PROX
System Power Consumption Comparison:

Power Power (W) Power (W)

Consumption (Reference) (Simulated)
/Generation
Source
Liquid fuel (P1) 4.3 3.68

Water pump 5.87 5.88

(P2)
Cooling loop 210 200.4
pump (P3)
Air Compr (AC) 15430 15180

Expander (E) 16700 16000

Stack Voltage Efficiency Comparison:

Comparison of stack voltage efficiency

Stack voltage
0.8
efficiency
0.7
0.6

Efficiency
No of cells Ref-efficiency Simulated - efficiency 0.5
Ref-efficiency
0.4
500 0.542 0.669 Simulated efficiency
0.3
0.2
750 0.605 0.681 0.1
0
1000 0.626 0.698 0 500 1000 1500
No of cells in stack
1250 0.646 0.712

Higher simulated values obtained due to

•Probable error in fitting voltage/current density curve
•Mismatch in Fuel Cell feed flow rate.
(Reference: 6 kmol/hr, Sim:8.385 kmol/hr)
Wind up:

Fairly close agreement is obtained between simulated and
reference efficiencies of various section of the fuel cell system.

Fairly close agreement is obtained between simulated and

reference power consumptions in various sections of the fuel
cell system.

Stack voltage efficiency is observed to increase with number of

cells in the stack. Simulated stack voltage efficiency is found to
be on higher side than reference values.

The obtained net electrical efficiency (7) varies in the range of

34% – 37% which is comparable with the conventional
gasoline based IC engine.

To make fuel cell more appealing, volume & mass of reformer

system need to be compact by material & catalyst
improvement .
 Thanks
for
your attention!