Development of an Educational Fuel Cell System for Mechanical Engineering Course

Abstract

Although there is growth in electrochemical system applications such as batteries and fuel cells to power land and air transportation and the current push for hydrogen technology, modeling and control design of thermal and power aspects of such systems is not commonly taught. To incorporate such content, an educational learning hardware system with software interface had been constructed to teach process dynamics and control in selected undergraduate mechanical engineering courses. Given a fuel cell is an energy conversion unit that uses chemical fuel to produce electricity without combustion, a set of student groups developed an educational laboratory system that ensured reliable and consistent power delivery from fuel cell as well as stable hydrogen production using cost-effective and off-the-shelf resources. A 100W Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) system was constructed through integration of hardware components, and user software interface like MATLAB for accessibility and ease of use in a laboratory course setting. The interface accessed remotely or face-to-face allowed for flow rate, pressure, and temperature measurements to be recorded for student analysis related to understanding of thermal and power performance and management of fuel cell and/or electrolyzer at different operating conditions. The system performed well based on initial testing by a pilot group of other students. It will be implemented in an upcoming course offering related to energy conversion and/or thermal fluid laboratory.