Development of Compact and High-Performance Fuel Cell Stack

Norishige, Konno; Mizuno, Seiji; Nakaji, Hiroya; Ishikawa, Yuji

doi:10.4271/2015-01-1175

Cited by 250 publications

(113 citation statements)

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“…In the case of Toyota's FCEV "Mirai", the required amount of platinum was likely reduced by increasing the power density of the fuel cell stack, as is suggested by Figure 13, comparing schematically the polarization curves of their 2008 FCEV vs. their 2015 Mirai model. 85 In addition, the platinum ORR catalyst was replaced by a platinum-cobalt alloy, with an 1.8-fold higher mass activity compared to platinum. 85 While actual platinum loadings are not stated, it is likely that they are somewhat reduced , corresponding to ≈17-44% cost savings for the membrane, the GDL, and the bipolar plate.…”

Section: Hydrogen Fuel Cells -Materials Requirements and Durabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Electromobility: Batteries or Fuel Cells?

Gröger

Gasteiger

Suchsland³

2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

468

367

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This study provides an analysis of the technological barriers for all-electric vehicles, either based on batteries (BEVs) or on H 2 -powered proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells (FCEVs). After an initial comparison of the two technologies, we examine the likely limits for lithium ion batteries for BEV applications, and compare the projected cell-and system-level energy densities with those which could be expected from lithium-air and lithium-sulfur batteries. Subsequently, we will review the current development status of H 2 PEM fuel cells, with particular attention to their viability with regards to the required amount of platinum and the resulting cost and availability constraints. It is widely accepted that global warming is caused by CO 2 emissions and that they must be substantially reduced in order to prevent climate change. Since ≈23% of the world-wide CO 2 emissions are due to transportation, ≈75% of which are contributed by the road sector (numbers from 2012 1 ), a reduction of CO 2 emissions from vehicles is imperative to combat global warming. Towards this goal, many countries have passed legislature to lower passenger vehicle emissions over the long term like, e.g., the European Union mandate for 95 g CO2 /km fleet average emissions by 2020.2 The analysis by Eberle et al. 3 in Figure 1 suggests that this rather ambitious goal can only be met by means of extended range electric vehicles or all-electric vehicles in combination with the integration of renewable energy (e.g., wind and solar). Without increased integration of renewable energy sources and basing the calculations on the current European electricity generation mix, the only vehicle concept which could meet the 95 g CO2 /km target are pure battery electric vehicles (BEV100 in Fig. 1). However, for electricity produced entirely by renewable energy sources, the 95 g CO2 /km target could also be met by extended range electric vehicles with 40 miles all-electric range (E-REV40 in Fig. 1), if 50% of driving is powered by the battery (i.e., the average driving range would have to be below 80 miles), or by fuel cell electric vehicles (FECVs), with hydrogen produced by water electrolysis. While these propulsion concepts look promising, their contribution to CO 2 emission savings in the transportation sector would only be meaningful if their market penetration were substantial. In the absence of government regulations, the latter largely hinges on consumer acceptance, which in turn strongly depends on cost. In addition, in the case of BEVs, recent studies clearly showed that BEV driving range (closely followed by cost) are the predominant variables determining consumer acceptance. 4 In the following we will thus focus on the two vehicle types, which would be capable to meet and exceed the CO 2 emission targets of 95 g CO2 /km on the long-term, viz., pure BEVs and hydrogen powered FCEVs. For both vehicle types, but particularly for the latter, meaningful CO 2 emission reductions require the predominant use of renewable energy, which in turn necess...

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Section: Hydrogen Fuel Cells -Materials Requirements and Durabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Review—Electromobility: Batteries or Fuel Cells?

Gröger

Gasteiger

Suchsland³

2015

J. Electrochem. Soc.

468

367

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“…In the channel domains this corresponds to about 10 to 14 breakthrough points per mm 2 . While other connectivity types are negligible in terms of volumetric share under the ribs, a significant amount of water (up to 15%) that is connected only toward the MPL/CL has been found in the channel GDL domains at oversaturated conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Automotive fuel cells with state of the art materials and cell structures reach today more than 1 W/cm 2 with current densities up to 3 A/cm 2 . 5 At such high current densities water management becomes more and more important and has to be properly designed on various scales from the system level to nanoscale structures, including all cell components as flow field plates, gas diffusion layers (GDL), the polymer membrane and the catalyst layer (CL).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…in the stationary sector with more than 100000 deployments in the Enefarm activity 1 as well as in the mobile sector where major car manufacturers have presented first commercial vehicles 2,3 and niche-market commercialization for logistic vehicles. 4 While for the automotive market also hydrogen infrastructure is a major barrier for widespread application, in both fields of application, cost of the fuel cell system remains the main hindrance for extensive spread of PEFC technology.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neutron and X-ray radiography, provide only averaged saturation information along at least one cell dimension, thus pore scale level processes cannot be depicted precisely with these methods (or only for very small domains 24 ). X-ray tomographic microscopy developed during the past years allows insights into pore scale connections and processes (Toyota, 2 GM, 25 Honda, 26 PSI, 27,28 ZSW 29 ) and is particularly suited for imaging the water phase on the level of the pore structure of the GDL. The methodology has been developed for operando measurements and data has been presented for moderate temperature 25,26,28,[30][31][32] where evaporation/condensation is of low importance or freezing conditions.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Operando Properties of Gas Diffusion Layers: Saturation and Liquid Permeability

Eller

Roth

Marone

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) require a sophisticated water management to operate efficiently, especially at high current densities which are needed to reach system cost targets. The description of the complicated two-phase water transport remains a challenge in PEFC models and requires experimental validation on various length scales. In this work, operando X-ray tomographic microscopy (XTM) with scan times of 10 s was used to depict the liquid water at defined conditions at a technically relevant cell temperature of 80 • C. Cells with Toray TGP-H-060 gas diffusion layer (GDL) with microporous layer (MPL) and different rib width were operated with different feed gas humidifications (under-and oversaturated) and current densities between 0.75 to 3.0 A/cm 2 . Based on the quantification of the local and average saturation, the distribution of water cluster size is analyzed. Different categories of the water cluster connectivity are defined and quantified. The analysis is complemented with numerical simulations of the permeability in the liquid phase of the GDL that is correlated to saturation for the different GDL domains. The numerical simulations of the pressure drop of liquid water flow from the catalyst layer toward the gas channels in channel-rib repetition units allows for conclusions on cluster growth mechanisms. In the past two decades, large developments have lead hydrogen fed polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) technology to the brink of commercialization, e.g. in the stationary sector with more than 100000 deployments in the Enefarm activity 1 as well as in the mobile sector where major car manufacturers have presented first commercial vehicles 2,3 and niche-market commercialization for logistic vehicles. 4While for the automotive market also hydrogen infrastructure is a major barrier for widespread application, in both fields of application, cost of the fuel cell system remains the main hindrance for extensive spread of PEFC technology. Cost is closely tied to materials and manufacturing processes, such as more effective electrocatalyst and more durable membrane materials. These developments are underway and have made significant progress. 5 Cost however is also closely tied to power density of the fuel cell stack. It is obvious that with higher power density less cells or an accordingly smaller cell area with the related reduced material use, is leading to a cost reduction if the high power density materials are of comparable cost.Automotive fuel cells with state of the art materials and cell structures reach today more than 1 W/cm 2 with current densities up to 3 A/cm 2 .5 At such high current densities water management becomes more and more important and has to be properly designed on various scales from the system level to nanoscale structures, including all cell components as flow field plates, gas diffusion layers (GDL), the polymer membrane and the catalyst layer (CL). In order to minimize the ohmic losses, the polymer membrane needs to be well humidified, 6 however at high current den...

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References

2018

Hybridization, Diagnostic and Prognostic of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

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Development of Compact and High-Performance Fuel Cell Stack

Cited by 250 publications

References 3 publications

Review—Electromobility: Batteries or Fuel Cells?

Review—Electromobility: Batteries or Fuel Cells?

Operando Properties of Gas Diffusion Layers: Saturation and Liquid Permeability

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