THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 1 KW DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELL SYSTEM

摘要

We are nearly finished building a 1 kW minimum net output direct methanol fuel cell demonstration system to address automotive applications. It is entirely self contained and computer controlled. It will operate at 25℃ - 40℃ at 0% - 100% relative humidity. The fuel cell stack has been tested and shown to deliver 1450 watts and contains 70 cells. Three hundred watts are required to power ancillary devices needed for a full system. It will operate at .75 M methanol and 60℃. The system was designed to achieve four major goals. The first was maintaining an adequate thermal and water balance, the second was insuring that the weights and volumes of all ancillary components are minimized, the third was minimizing ancillary power consumption, and the fourth was minimizing stack size to the extent this was consistent with the first three items. Critical to the realization of these goals is a new concept in compact heat exchanger design that allows the construction of a very small and light-weight condenser.