Day 2 :
Keynote Forum
Tariq Shamim
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, UAE
Keynote: Effect of purging on the performance of a PEM fuel cell stack with a dead-end anode
Biography:
Tariq Shamim is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. He specializes in the broad area of sustainability with special focus on clean energy technologies. He earned his Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. He has been actively involved in many professional organizations including ASME, SAE and Combustion Institute. He is currently serving as a Subject Editor of Applied Energy journal. He is a recipient of several awards including SAE International Ralph Teetor award for excellence in teaching (2004).
Abstract:
Due to better hydrogen utilization, the interest in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell with a dead-end anode is growing. In such a fuel cell, higher fuel utilization is expected as the anode outlet is blocked, thus no excess hydrogen is wasted from the system. This design, however, results in water accumulation in the anode and nitrogen crossover from cathode to anode that lead to performance deterioration over time. To ensure good and stable stack performance, the purging is commonly employed to remove accumulated water and nitrogen properly. Since purging also results in some reduction of hydrogen utilization and addition of parasitic loads, an appropriate purging strategy is necessary to achieve the optimal fuel cell performance. This talk describes our current research program to develop better understanding of purging parameters on the performance of a PEM fuel cell stack with a dead-end anode. The experimental investigations were carried out by using a 300cm2, 24-cell PEM fuel cell stack with the rated power of 1.5kW. The stack was operated with water cooling, fully humidified air and dry hydrogen at the ambient pressure. Using the results of these investigations, the talk will discuss the effects of purging frequency and duration and their interactions with the cathode air-stoichiometry. The talk will also discuss the effect of purging on the stack performance during transient conditions.
Keynote Forum
Thierry Djenizian
Ecole Nationale des Mines de Saint-Etienne, France
Keynote: Titania nanotubes for Li-ion microbatteries
Biography:
Thierry Djenizian is the Head of the Flexible Electronics Department at Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne. In 2002, he received his PhD degree in Materials Chemistry from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. His research activities are mainly focused on the nano-structuring of materials for applications in energy storage and conversion at the micrometer scale (microbatteries). He is the author of over 100 publications in international journals and 5 book chapters. He is the Conference Chair of Porous Semiconductors Science and Technology international conferences.
Abstract:
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used to power portable devices, microelectronics, vehicles, etc. With many advantages such as high surface area and improved charge transport, self-supported 3-D nano-structured metal oxides such as Titania nanotubes (TiO2nts) are promising electrode materials for LIBs and their impact is particularly significant when considering the miniaturization of energy storage systems and the development of 3D microbatteries. This talk will review the concept and fabrication of all-solid-state Li-ion microbatteries using TiO2nts as negative electrode. Effects of material selection and processing on the performance and reliability are presented as a means to develop conceptual guidelines to understand and improve micro-battery designs. Fundamentals such as electrode reactions, lithium ion diffusion and the conformal electro-deposition mechanism of polymer electrolytes onto the nano-structured electrodes will be presented. The fabrication of a full 3D microcell showing high electrochemical performance will be presented and the development of the next generation of 3D microbatteries will be discussed.
Keynote Forum
Vahid Esfahanian
University of Tehran, Iran
Keynote: Modeling and simulation of lead-acid batteries
Time : 10:20-11:00
Biography:
Vahid Esfahanian received his BSc from the University of Illinois at Chicago, IL, USA in 1982 and his MSc and PhD from the Ohio State University, USA in 1985 and in 1991, respectively. He is currently a full Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the Head of Vehicle, Fuel and Environment Research Institute (VFERI), University of Tehran, Iran. His research interests include battery simulations and hybrid vehicles.
Abstract:
Modeling and Simulation (M&S) allow scientists and engineers to design and manufacture engineering products that are too complicated to be designed by simple engineering approach. Nowadays the use of M&S within engineering is well recognized and has already helped to reduce costs, increase the quality of products and give more physical insight. Design parameters study using simulations is generally cheaper and safer than conducting experiments with a prototype. Although the use of M&S does not eliminate the need for the experiment for most cases but everybody agrees that M&S not only reduce the cost and the time of the final products but also optimize and in addition reduce the number of experiments needed to finalize the product under design. Among different energy resources, batteries are considered as the main sources of energy especially in electric vehicle industries. Due to complexity of batteries modeling and simulation is a useful tool to optimize and analyze its behavior and better understanding of its physical phenomena. Lead-acid batteries are used for a vast number of purposes due to lower price, deep cycling and high rate discharge. In this context, the modeling and simulation of lead-acid batteries including computational fluid dynamics (CFD), equivalent circuit model (ECM) and engineering model (EM) are introduced. The use of simulation and modeling in design of Lead acid batteries are explained. The advantages and disadvantages of each approach have been explored. In addition the limitation of modeling and simulation and our expectation are discussed. The need for an experimental benchmark for future and further progress in simulation and modeling of lead acid batteries is also presented. In addition, in order to speed up the battery simulation to be used in real time system, the reduced order based on proper orthogonal decomposition will be thoroughly explained along with the produced numerical results. Since lead acid batteries involve multi-disciplines engineering field, developing engineering software would be useful in order to consider all the aspects of battery design.
- Global Outlook of Fuel Cell | Classifications of Fuel Cell| Applications of Fuel cells| Recent Advancements in Fuel Cell Technology| Super capacitors vs. Battery| Various Energy Materials
Location: Salon I
Chair
Tariq Shamim
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, UAE
Session Introduction
P V Aravind
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Title: Gasifier-SOFC systems and applications
Biography:
P V Aravind is an Associate Professor at Delft University of Technology. He teaches courses on Thermodynamics of Energy Conversion and Fuel Cell Systems at Delft. He also teaches at TU Munich in Germany and contributes to a course at KU Leuven in Belgium. He is involved in several national, European and international energy related research projects focusing on fuel cell systems. Currently, he supervises a team of 9 PhD students, 2 Post-doctoral researchers and several MSc students. Many of his team members are involved in SOFC system development with a special focus on Gasifier-SOFC systems.
Abstract:
Gasification of coal, petro coke, biomass etc., results in the production of syngas which finds its use in many applications such as production of chemicals, electric power and heat. Electric power production using syngas is often done with the help of internal combustion engines, conventional steam power plants or gasification based combined cycle plants (with gas turbines and heat recovery steam generators). Such systems have relatively low electrical efficiencies (maximum 40-50%). An alternate approach that might be feasible on industrial scale in the future is the use of solid oxide fuel cells to produce electric power using syngas as fuel. With thermodynamic calculations, it has been shown that high electrical efficiencies around 70% might be achievable with such systems. However, there are many challenges to overcome before such systems are realized. They include, for example, the development of appropriate gas cleaning and gas processing systems to be placed between the gasifier and the solid oxide fuel cell. This paper presents a brief overview of current state of the art with gasifier-SOFC systems, their potential applications and the present day challenges. Special attention is given to potential applications in the Middle East.
D Benouioua
EFFICACITY, France
Title: Fuel cell diagnosis based on stack voltage multifractal analysis. The question of the method portability
Biography:
D Benouioua has completed his PhD in Electronics in 2008 from Polytechnic School of Tours University, France and Post-doctoral studies in Fuel Cells Technology from French Institute of Science and Technology for Transport, Development and Networks, Fuel Cells system platform in Belfort since 2012 to 2014. She is currently a Researcher at EFFICACITY Institute for the Energy Transition in the City. Her main research activities include Fuel Cell systems characterization and diagnosis for automotive and stationary applications.
Abstract:
In the era of renewable and clean energies, the demand for less polluting energy generation technologies has increased rapidly. Among these technologies, the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) receives much attention, as it can convert the hydrogen chemical energy into electricity with high efficiency, and also produce water and heat. However, to make this technology commercially viable, some challenges still remain. Especially the extension of the fuel cell lifespan and reliability are identified as major concerns in the research and industry sectors. The lifetime and reliability objectives can notably be achieved by implementing a diagnosis tool capable of high performances, whatever the stack design and the operating environment. In this context, we propose a new tool based on the investigation of singularity measurements stamped in fuel cell stack voltage signals. Indeed, measuring local singularities on voltage signals provides suitable information about the evolving dynamics of non-stationary and non-linear processes involved in fuel cell systems. In our study, two PEMFC stacks are experimented to evaluate the portability of our diagnosis tool. The first one is an 8 cell stack designed for automotive applications and manufactured by CEA LITEN, France. The second one is a 12 cell stack dedicated to stationary application (micro combined heat and power - µCHP application). It is designed and marketed by Riesaer Brennstoffzellentechnik GmbH and Inhouse Engineering GmbH, Germany. The steps of our diagnosis strategy are as follows: Two PEMFC stacks are operated under a variety of conditions (nominal, and faults i.e. more or less severe deviations from the nominal conditions) using characterization testbenches developed in lab. The deviations from the nominal conditions refer either to single fault types or to combinations of different faults; The recorded stack voltages are analyzed using a Wavelet Leader based Multifractal Analysis (WLMA) in order to identify their singularity spectra as fault signatures; A feature selection method is used to select the most relevant singularity features and to remove the redundant ones; The selected singularity features are classified using Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier according to the considered operating situations (faults and combinations of faults). The obtained results show that the proposed PEMFC diagnosis tool allows identifying simple operating failures and even more complicated situations that contain several failure types, for different stack sizes, powers and technologies for different power application environments.
Thanganathan Uma
KPR Institute of Technology, India
Title: Single cell performances of MEA with hybrid membrane and Pt/C catalyst for low temperature H2/O2 fuel cells
Biography:
Thanganathan Uma has her expertise in Evaluation and passion in improving the health and wellbeing. She is well experienced in the field of Membrane and Fuel Cells. She got a prestigious international award AvH, Germany and JSPS, Japan during her research periods. She has excellent teaching/research skills in the area of Physical Chemistry and Materials Chemistry. Her main aim of work is to introduce a new class of materials and catalyst for energy applications.
Abstract:
Presently, an important problem for low temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) operating in the temperature range 50-100°C is the short time-life of proton conducting membranes. The present research work is thus focused on the development of single cell performances at low temperatures using alternative nonfluorinated hybrid proton exchange membrane based PVA polymer, which are chemically and mechanically more stable at low temperatures and Pt/C electrodes which can result into better fuel cell performance. The polarization profiles with the relationship between current density-potential (I–V) and the power density-current density curves of the MEA consisting hybrid membrane and Pt/C catalyst analyzed at various humid conditions (50, 75 and 100% RH) with constant temperatures in the range from 40, 60, 80 and 90°C. The maximum current density of about 600 mA cm-2 was obtained at 90°C with 100% RH. We have compared these values with commercial Nafion® membrane and PVA based hybrid membrane electrolytes performed at low temperatures for H2/O2 fuel cells.
Jens Peters
Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Karlsruhe
Title: The environmental impact of Li-Ion batteries and the role of key parameters
Time : 12:50-13:00
Biography:
The environmental impact caused by the production of Li-ion battery systems is often disregarded when assessing e-mobility. Nevertheless, significant impacts are associated with battery manufacturing, which gain significance when electricity from renewable sources is used for battery charging. The presentation provides a general picture of the environmental impacts associated with Li-ion battery production and the differences between existing battery chemistries in this regard. Based on a recent review of all environmental studies on lithium-ion batteries, critical aspects in the battery manufacturing process are pointed out and improvement potentials for future developments are highlighted. The consideration of different impact categories provides a broad picture of the environmental performance of common and advanced Li-ion batteries, where greenhouse-gas emissions are often less relevant than other factors like toxicity, which are often disregarded. But also the battery performance parameters have significant influence on the overall environmental picture. Over the whole lifetime of the battery, the cycle life and internal battery efficiency can influence the overall environmental performance of battery systems in the same order of magnitude as the production. With a break-down of the potential impacts to component level, the presentation also provides insights into the most critical parts of the battery and thus allows giving eco-design recommendations for future battery developments.
Abstract:
Jens Peters holds a Diploma degree (Dipl. Ing.) in Electrical Engineering (communication technologies) from the Technical University of Munich. He worked several years as R&D Engineer and Project Leader in the automotive industry (Ingolstadt, Barcelona) in the development of electronic components. After finishing his MSc in Renewable Energies and Fuel Cells at UIMP/CSIC in Madrid, he started working in the field of System Analysis of Energy Processes at Instituto IMDEA Energía, Madrid. In 2015, he finished his dissertation at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) on “Environmental, economic and thermodynamic assessment of pyrolysis processes for the production of biofuels and biochar”. Since 2015, he is part of the research group ‘Resources, Recycling, Environment & Sustainability’ at HIU, where he is working on the modeling and assessment of novel electrochemical energy storage technologies, with a special focus on material issues and sustainability of new battery systems (eco-design).
- Video Presentation
Location: Salon I
Session Introduction
Jens Peters
Karlsruhe Institute for Technology, Karlsruhe
Title: The environmental impact of Li-Ion batteries and the role of key parameters
Biography:
Jens Peters holds a Diploma degree (Dipl. Ing.) in Electrical Engineering (communication technologies) from the Technical University of Munich. He worked several years as R&D Engineer and Project Leader in the automotive industry (Ingolstadt, Barcelona) in the development of electronic components. After finishing his MSc in Renewable Energies and Fuel Cells at UIMP/CSIC in Madrid, he started working in the field of System Analysis of Energy Processes at Instituto IMDEA Energía, Madrid. In 2015, he finished his dissertation at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid) on “Environmental, economic and thermodynamic assessment of pyrolysis processes for the production of biofuels and biochar”. Since 2015, he is part of the research group ‘Resources, Recycling, Environment & Sustainability’ at HIU, where he is working on the modeling and assessment of novel electrochemical energy storage technologies, with a special focus on material issues and sustainability of new battery systems (eco-design).
Abstract:
The environmental impact caused by the production of Li-ion battery systems is often disregarded when assessing e-mobility. Nevertheless, significant impacts are associated with battery manufacturing, which gain significance when electricity from renewable sources is used for battery charging. The presentation provides a general picture of the environmental impacts associated with Li-ion battery production and the differences between existing battery chemistries in this regard. Based on a recent review of all environmental studies on lithium-ion batteries, critical aspects in the battery manufacturing process are pointed out and improvement potentials for future developments are highlighted. The consideration of different impact categories provides a broad picture of the environmental performance of common and advanced Li-ion batteries, where greenhouse-gas emissions are often less relevant than other factors like toxicity, which are often disregarded. But also the battery performance parameters have significant influence on the overall environmental picture. Over the whole lifetime of the battery, the cycle life and internal battery efficiency can influence the overall environmental performance of battery systems in the same order of magnitude as the production. With a break-down of the potential impacts to component level, the presentation also provides insights into the most critical parts of the battery and thus allows giving eco-design recommendations for future battery developments.