Determination of energy efficiency for a direct methanol fuel cell stack by a fuel circulation method

Effect of operating conditions on energy efficiency for a small passive direct methanol fuel cell

“…Under constant voltage the discharge process is continued until the fuel is exhausted (i.e., the bi-cell is not turned off until the discharge current is less than 0.1 mA cm −2 ). The Faradic efficiency and energy efficiency can be calculated with the equations [26],…”

“…However, the lack of a convenient method to accurately analyze methanol concentration and methanol crossover in operating conditions gives a difficulty for the work of fuel efficiency determination in a practical fuel cell. Our previous article [26] reported an investigation on fuel efficiency by a method of fuel circulation for a DMFC stack using pumped air and pumped fuel. The current article presents our further investigation on the effect of operating conditions on fuel efficiency in a small passive DMFC fabricated with only two single cells.…”

Comprehensive characterization and understanding of micro-fuel cells operating at high methanol concentrations

“…The energy efficiency of the fuel cell can be evaluated by comparing the power delivered by the cell when it is discharged to the energy that the fuel cell could deliver ideally, that is, when working at its theoretical voltage [33]: (5) where v(t) is the operating voltage, i(t) the measured current and t the discharging time, c MeOH the methanol concentration, V the solution volume and F the Faraday constant, and E 0 = 1.18 V the theoretical cell voltage at 25 °C [8]. By simulating the discharge curve, the faradaic efficiencies can be obtained based on the previous equations.…”

Ultrasound-assisted micro-emulsion for synthesis of Pt and PtCo nano-particles

“…In recent years, fuel cell research and development has received much attention [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] due to its higher energy conversion efficiency and lower or non greenhouse-gas emissions compared with the use of thermal engines to convert fuel into usable energies. One of the more important materials for making a fuel cell is the electrode catalyst for oxygen reduction and fuel oxidation.…”