Applied PEM Fuel Cell for Vehicle Control Figure 6: RC Car to be Used with the New Fuel Cell Stack Figure 5 shows the exploded view of the new fuel cell stack design. Each membrane assembly produces 0.4V with 5 A. The RC vehicle will require 9 membrane assemblies in the fuel cell stack, wired in series to power the electrical motor. This fuel cell system will require portable hydrogen and oxygen storage on the vehicle. The new system will not require direct heating of the gasses. Future Work • Creating an improved fuel cell stack • Reducing weight with smaller components • Large scale implementation • Remove need for water saturation Figure 5: Exploded View of the New Fuel Cell Stack RC Car design The new fuel cell design will power a RC vehicle, replacing the standard battery. Below, in Figure 6, is a picture of the RC car used before the fuel cell was installed. Due to its unique motor and small chassis, values of power consumption had to be calculated. In order to determine how many fuel cells would be needed for the RC car two options were considered: 1. Stacking multiple fuel cells 2. Creating one large fuel cell The orientation of the fuel cell on the vehicle was also a characteristic of design that had to be determined. Figure 7 shows the final product of he RC car after all the designs were completed and components built. Figure 7: Fuel Cell Powered RC Car Flow Control Fuel Cell Stack Water Saturation Hydrogen Oxygen Optimized PEM Fuel Cell with CNT Inserts: The Approach The fuel cell and its adjoining system were designed for the research of high performance CNT based electrodes. To provide an improved testing apparatus over the Nano-Energy lab’s existing prototype, the following specifications were met: • Self-contained, single unit, semi-portable system housing the following components: 1. PEM fuel cell 2. Gas bubblers 3. Pressure gauges 4. Flow meters/controllers 5. Temperature controllers • Improved bubbler design to deliver wet gas to the electrodes at 80 o C • Increased membrane and electrode surface area ( 25 cm 2 ) Performance Testing After the PEM fuel cell system was built, it underwent multiple performance tests. The fuel cell and system were shown capable of holding the required pressure, and the controllers ran accurately. As seen in Figure 2, the PEM fuel cell is constructed from two graphite bipolar plates, each heated by an aluminum endplate block. A CNT based catalyst layer is placed adjacent to the channels on each of the bipolar plates. For the PEM a nafion membrane is placed between each catalyst layer. Bipolar Plate Design The objective of the bipolar plate design was to maximize the effective area, limit condensed water vapor, and provide the most consistent concentration profile across the catalyst layer. Figure 1: PEM Fuel Cell System To meet these requirements, a mirrored set of serpentine channels were machined into each of the graphite plates. Three channels were machined per serpentine path to allow the most efficient use of the area (Figure 3). In theory, the shortened flow paths decrease the chance of a large concentration drop along the graphite plates or development of water condensation, but this should allow more hydrogen and oxygen to interact with their respective catalysts to help maintain the electrochemical reaction rate. Figure 2: PEM Fuel Cell Assembly Figure 4: Power Performance Test of the Fuel Cell Figure 3: Bipolar Plate Gas Flow Field Channel Figure 4 shows the power performance test of the fuel cell. The fuel cell was tested at conditions of 80 0 C with both gasses (Hydrogen and Oxygen) flowing at 20 Standard Cubic Centimeters per Minute (SCCM). Abstract Fall Semester Objective: to design and build an improved a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system based on a current research prototype for the testing of novel carbon nanotube (CNT) based catalyst layers. The goals included: designing and building a larger fuel cell with optimized flow field channel patterns; designing new saturation heaters to replace the current water boiler; and optimizing a new fuel cell system as a whole that would be semi-portable, more convenient to use, and deliver improved power density capable of powering a small fan. Spring Semester Objective: to use the knowledge gained from the fall semester to design and build a new stacked PEM fuel cell with CNT based catalyst layers to power a small, electrical remote control (RC) vehicle. The design will include an improved fuel cell system design and power management system. MEEN Senior Design/AggiE-Challenge Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells for Vehicular Operations