The recent spreading of the interest for fuel cells brings, as a consequence, the need of intense effort for components and system development and testing. While the most resourceful cell developers have realized experimental set-ups for cell duration estimation, it is very rare to find test rigs for complete characterization of cell performance as a function of the numerous input parameters i.e. streams mass flow, composition, temperature and purity, fuel utilization factor, current density. In the present state of the art some modelling of the influence of these factors exists as well as some experimental results for cell potential evaluation at different current densities. What is not found in literature and is difficult to obtain is a complete experimental characterization of fuel cells in which the dependence of performances on a single factor is disaggregated from the others and clearly evaluated. This paper present a test rig for single cell designed to reach these targets and its first tests on a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell. The experimental setup has revealed to be very flexible allowing the characterization of the system at different operating conditions.
Design, Construction, Start-Up and First Experimental Trials of a Test Rig for Single Fuel Cells
DESIDERI, UMBERTO;
2001-01-01
Abstract
The recent spreading of the interest for fuel cells brings, as a consequence, the need of intense effort for components and system development and testing. While the most resourceful cell developers have realized experimental set-ups for cell duration estimation, it is very rare to find test rigs for complete characterization of cell performance as a function of the numerous input parameters i.e. streams mass flow, composition, temperature and purity, fuel utilization factor, current density. In the present state of the art some modelling of the influence of these factors exists as well as some experimental results for cell potential evaluation at different current densities. What is not found in literature and is difficult to obtain is a complete experimental characterization of fuel cells in which the dependence of performances on a single factor is disaggregated from the others and clearly evaluated. This paper present a test rig for single cell designed to reach these targets and its first tests on a Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell. The experimental setup has revealed to be very flexible allowing the characterization of the system at different operating conditions.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
