Suk Woo Nam

Studies of the effects of the reformer in an internal-reforming molten carbonate fuel cell by mathematical modeling

The effects of the reformer in an internal-reforming molten carbonate fuel cell (IR-MCFC) are studied by mathematical modeling. Temperature distributions, conversion of methane and compositions of gases are analyzed through mathematical modeling of the reformer and the cell. In the reformer, the methane-reforming reaction and the water-gas shift reaction occur simultaneously and the conversion of methane to hydrogen, calculated including the thermodynamic equilibrium of the reaction, reaches 99%. Additionally, the endothermic-reforming reaction contributes to a uniform temperature distribution. The voltage and the power of the IR-MCFC are similar to those of an external-reforming molten carbonate fuel cell (ER-MCFC), when the compositions at the inlet of the ER-MCFC are set as those at the outlet of the reformer in IR-MCFC. As the molar ratio of methane to water-gas decreases at a fixed total flow rate, the working voltage decreases.

Effects of water-gas shift reaction on simulated performance of a molten carbonate fuel cell

A molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) is simulated. In order to determine the effects of the water-gas shift reaction, the calculated results such as temperature distribution, voltage distribution, conversion and performance, are compared with those calculated excluding the shift reaction. Uniformity in the temperature profile is deteriorated due to the shift reaction. At the entrance, hydrogen is consumed rapidly in order to reach the equilibrium state of the shift reaction. The conversion of hydrogen decreases along the direction of gas flow because of hydrogen generated by the shift reaction. Therefore, when the shift reaction is excluded, the conversion of hydrogen is higher than that in a practical cell. Additionally, at the same current density, the voltage calculated without the shift reaction would be higher than the real value. The effect of the shift reaction on the voltage distribution and cell performances is quite small.

The electrorheological and dielectric behaviors of conducting polymer-coated poly(ethyl methacrylate) suspensions

The electrorheological (ER) and dielectric behaviors of the polypyrrole(PPy)-coated poly(ethyl methacrylate)(PEMA) suspensions in mineral oil were investigated. PPy was coated on PEMA particles to enhance the particle polarization, which would lead to the enhanced ER response. Various PPy-coated PEMA particles were synthesized by controlling the oxidant amount during the pyrrole polymerization, and the ER responses of their suspensions were investigated. The ER response initially increases with the oxidant amount, passes through a maximum, and then decreases with the oxidant amount. The initial increase in the ER response with oxidant amounts is due to the enhanced particle polarization with the increased particle surface conductivity. The dielectric properties of the corresponding suspensions support that the ER enhancement arises from the enhanced particle polarization. The decrease in the ER response at large oxidant amounts seems to arise from the increased conduction between the PPy-coated PEMA particles.