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MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

CAL POLY POMONA

INTERDEPARTMENTAL CORRESPONDENCE

TO: Dr. Kevin R. Anderson DATE: October 20, 2011ORG: Mechanical Engineering RE: G!"#1

ROM: $t%dent &h%an'e #i%, Me (0!A)01 *ed. all 2011

$+-E&T: 'drogen %el &ell E/erient

References:

13 The o44icial +.$. governent so%rce 4or 4%el econo' in4oration 5ebsite.

htt:""555.4%elecono'.gov"4eg"4cv6e.shtl

23 Dr. Kevin R. Anderson $olar Theral Engineering lec t%re notes.

73 Dr. enr' 8%e9s therod'naics ME 702; lect%re notes $ring"2010;.

(3 b' D. ?ogi Gos5ai, ran@ Kreith, and -an .

Kreider 2ndedition.

Summary:

Bn order to have a better %nderstanding o4 ho5 the solar energ' is been collected andtranslated into another 4or o4 energ', o%r gro% did the 'drogen %el &ell E/erient

at a location nearb' %ilding 1! at &ali4ornia $tate =ol'technic +niversit', =oona.

A4ter care4%ll' doing the e/erient, and anal'Cing the data, the gro% 4o%nd the 4%elrod%ction er *att in%te 5as 4o%nd to be e%al to 0.210*in"#, and the 4%el

cons%tion er *att in%te 5as 4o%nd to be e%al to 0.0F7*in"#.

Backgrun!:

Bn order to 4%nction a roton e/change ebrane 4%el cell, a strea o4 h'drogen isdelivered to the anode side o4 the ebrane. At the anode side it iscatal'ticall' slit intorotonsand electrons. This o/idation hal4)cell reactionis reresented b':

The ne5l' 4ored rotons ereate thro%gh the ol'er electrol'te ebrane to thecathode side. The electrons travel along an e/ternal load circ%itto thecathodeside o4 the

MEA, th%s creating the c%rrento%t%t o4 the 4%el cell. Mean5hile, a strea o4 o/'gen is

1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathodehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_(electricity)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anodehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_networkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathodehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_(electricity)

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Tes" Cnf#gura"#n:

The hard5are 5ere %sed in this lab incl%de a 4e5 electrical 5ires, t5o roton e/change

ebrane 4%el cells, 5ater, t5o 70 # 5ater container, one iece o4 0 c2solar anel,an electrical otor, and a 4an.

The gro% 4irst care4%ll' chec@ed i4 there 5as an' hard5are 5as issing or been

daaged. Then the gro% 4ollo5ed the 4ro Dr. Anderson ste b' ste,and the set% is sho5n inFigure 2.

(a) Top view of the setup

(b) Side view of the setup

Figure 2. Fuel ell !ab Setup

7

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Tes" Me"$!%gy:

Bn this lab, the gro% %sed a solar collector to convert solar energ' to electrical energ'.Then a roton e/change ebrane 4%el cell 5as %sed to trans4or the electrical energ'

collected b' the solar collector to cheical energ' and store the in the 4or o4

h'drogen. A4ter gathered 70 # o4 h'drogen, the gro% %sed another 4%el cell to translatethe cheical energ' to electrical energ' again, and %sed this energ' to o5er a 4an.

Resu%"s&D#scuss#n:

%el rod%ction er 5att in%te and 4%el cons%tion er 5att in%te 5ere calc%lated

b' al'ing 4or%la Havg.Bavg.; " t. The res%lts are sho5n in Table 1.

Time, t, min Voltage (V) Current (A)Volume(mL)

Fuel Cell Temperature(deg C)

0 1.57 0.34 5 27

5 1.55 0.23 15 27

10 1.57 0.24 22 27

15 1.5 0.2! 30 2

A"erage 1.57 0.27 #$A 27.25

A"erage%o&er

0.41' #$A #$A #$A

Fuelprodutionper attminute

(*min$mL)

0.210

(a) Fuel production per watt minute

Time (min) Voltage (V) Current (A)Volume

(mL)

Fuel CellTemperature

(deg C)

0 0.70 0.04'1 20 2'

5 0.70 0.041 1 2'

10 0.70 0.04! 1! 2'

15 0.70 0.04 13 2'

20 0.70 0.04! 10 2'

27 0.!' 0.04 7 30

33 0.!' 0.04 4 2'3 0.!' 0.045 1 2'

A"erage 0.70 0.047 #$A #$A

A"erage %o&er 0.033 #$A #$A #$A

Fuleon+umption per

att minute

0.0!3

(

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(*min$mL)

(b) Fuel consumption per watt minute

Table 1. Fuel Production"onsumption per #att $inute'ncer"a#n"y Ana%ys#s:

The theral losses d%e to heating at the electrol'Cer and the 4%el cell 5ere calc%lated b'

%sing 4or%la IlossJItotal Istored. There4ore, the theral loss at electrol'Cer 5as

calc%lated b' %sing 4or%lar:

IlossJ hconv. Te Tab.; L 2eNTe(.

To calc%late the convection coe44icient hconvt., the 4ollo5ing 4o%lar 5as %sed H is the5ind seed;:

hconvt.JP.!L7.QH

$ince on the e/erient da', the 5ind seed 5as ver' sall, h conv is neglected. $iilarl',

a theral loss 4or the heating at the 4%el cell 5as calc%lated as 5ell. The as%tions and

res%lts are sho5n in Table 2.

T$erma% %sses !ue "

$ea"#ng a" "$e e%ec"r%y(er

"$erma% %ss fr "$e $ea"#ng

a" "$e fue% ce%%

Assumptions: Assumptions:

Ta 2''.00 Ta 2''.00

Te 300.25 Te 302.00e 0.50 e 0.'0V 0.20 V 0.20

Constant Constant N 5.!7e N 5.!7e

Results Results - !.4! - !.4!

lo++ .11 lo++ 1'.3

total lo++ 27.4!

Table 2. thermal losses due to heating at the electrol%&er and the fuel cell

Summary:

' doing and anal'Cing this lab, the gro% 5as able to %nderstand the basic theor' o4collecting solar energ', converting solar energ' into cheical energ', and also convert

this cheical energ' bac@ to electrical energ' and %t it into real alication.

P

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=reared b':

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