UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO
DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING
ME 751 FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY
Winter 2014
Course Website: http://mme.uwaterloo.ca/~x6li/me751/
Instructor:
Dr. Xianguo Li (PRC 3021; Local: 36843; e-mail: x6li@uwaterloo.ca)
Lecture:
Day/Time: Monday /1:30 – 4:20 pm
Textbook:
Principles of Fuel Cells, by Xianguo Li, Taylor & Francis, New York, 2005.
Place: RCH 212
Additional References:
Fuel Cell Systems, ed. by L.J.M.J. Blomen and M.N. Mugerwa, Plenum Press, 1993.
Fuel Cell Systems Explained, by J. Larminie and A. Dicks, 2nd edition, Wiley, 2003.
Fuel Cells and their applications, by Karl Kordesch and G. Simader, VCH, 1996.
Fuel Cell Handbook, by Appleby and Foulkes, 1989.
Fuel Cell Technology Handbook, ed. By G. Hoogers, CRC Press, 2002.
Handbook of Fuel Cells - Fundamentals, Technology, Applications, 4-volume set, ed. By W.
Vielstich, H. Gasteiger, A. Lamm, 2600 Pages, March 2003.
Course Description: Introduction to the principle and operation of various types of fuel cells
(such as alkaline, proton exchange membrane, phosphoric acid, molten carbonate, solid
oxide, and direct methanol fuel cells). Configuration of individual cell, stack and fuel cell
system. Overview of fuel cell technology. Thermodynamics of fuel cells. Introduction to
electrochemical kinetics. Transport-related phenomena and conservation equations for
reacting multi-component systems. Fuel cell system design, optimization and economics.
Fuel cell performance modelling. Challenges of fuel cell commercialization.
Course Content:
Chapter
1
2
3
4
# of approximate lecture hours
Introduction and basics of fuel cells ..................................... 3
Chemical thermodynamics of fuel cells ................................ 6
Introduction of electrochemical kinetics ............................... 6
Transport phenomena/conservation equations/modelling
Fuel cell system design, optimization and economics .......... 6
5
Alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) .................................................... 1.5
6
Phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs) ...................................... 1.5
7
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) ................ 3
8
Molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) ................................... 1.5
9
Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) ............................................. 3
10
Fuel processing/Direct methanol fuel cells ........................... 1.5
Specific Topics ...................................................................... 3
Total ............................................................................................... 36
Evaluation Method:
First presentation (March 3, 10, 17 and 24)
10 %
Second presentation (March 31)
10 %
One Project/Term Paper (due Friday, April 4 by 4:30 pm) 35 %
Final exam (Time: Wed., April 9, 1:30 pm; Place: TBA)
45 %
Total
100 %
Presentations: First presentation on each type of fuel cell; and second presentation on
project/term paper. Individual presentation in class on PowerPoint (Details in later pages)
Project/Term Paper: students have a choice to select either a project or term paper to complete
as a part of the course requirement.
The project/term paper must be completed and handed in, subject to the following conditions:
(1) The project/term paper must be completed individually.
(2) The completed project/term paper must be handed in on time.
(3) No extensions will be granted.
(4) Failure to hand in the project/term paper on time will result in a grade of zero for that
project/term paper.
Project: students selected this option will focus on a specific topic of their choice, and carry out
independent study as a research topic (analysis, simulation, modeling, experiment or a
combination of them, as appropriate), and will provide the proper results and discussion;
from which conclusions can be drawn.
Term Paper: students selected this option will choose a specific topic in fuel cell of importance,
conduct in-depth literature review, and provide a written comprehensive report.
Assignment: already posted on the course website.
Office Hours: Open-door policy, and via all means (incl. office visitation, phone consultation,
e-mail, etc.). An appointment is preferred for consultations longer than about 15-20 min.
Note: Students must do the presentations and project/term paper; otherwise, an “incomplete”
mark for the course will be given.
Every student must know the following:
Academic Integrity, Grievance, Discipline, Appeals and Note for Students with Disabilities:
see www.uwaterloo.ca/accountability/documents/courseoutlinestmts.pdf The text for this web
site is listed below:
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Academic Integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the
University of Waterloo community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness,
respect and responsibility. [Check www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/ for more
information.]
Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of his/her
university life has been unfair or unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a
grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy70.htm. When in doubt please be certain
to contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.
Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity [check
www.uwaterloo.ca/academicintegrity/] to avoid committing an academic offence, and to
take responsibility for his/her actions. A student who is unsure whether an action
constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g.,
plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules” for group work/collaboration should seek guidance
from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate Associate Dean. For
information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to
Policy 71, Student Discipline, www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm. For
typical penalties check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties,
www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/guidelines/penaltyguidelines.htm.
Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70 (Student Petitions and
Grievances) (other than a petition) or Policy 71 (Student Discipline) may be appealed if
there is a ground. A student who believes he/she has a ground for an appeal should refer
to Policy 72 (Student Appeals) www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy72.htm.
Note for Students with Disabilities: The Office for persons with Disabilities (OPD),
located in Needles Hall, Room 1132, collaborates with all academic departments to
arrange appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities without compromising
the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic accommodations to
lessen the impact of your disability, please register with the OPD at the beginning of each
academic term.
Xianguo Li
January 7, 2014
To:
Students in Graduate Class ME 751
From:
Professor Xianguo Li
Subject:
Plagiarism
Date:
January 7, 2014
Plagiarism: using other peoples’ ideas or quoting other people's work without attribution
If you want to use someone else's ideas but in your own words, you should add the reference; if
you want to use the author's actual words, you should put the words in quotation marks and add
the reference. This applies to photographs and information obtained from the Internet as well as
from other sources. I have pasted below the definition of plagiarism from the University Policy
No. 71. Read it carefully and understand that committing plagiarism is not tolerated.
Please read the full policy which can be found at:
http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infosec/Policies/policy71.htm
Individual work
Although you are encouraged to work together in the laboratory and in analysis of the project
data, you are not permitted to collaborate on any of the written assignments.
______________________________________________________________________
I have read the above information and Policy 71 and agree to conform to the University’s
principles of honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility and the course guideline on
collaboration.
Name (printed)
Signature
Date
Elements to Be Included in the First Presentation on
AFCs, PAFCs, PEMFCs, MCFCs, SOFCs and DMFCs and
other types of fuel cells (such as Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells
and Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells)
(1) Brief history; advantage and disadvantage; areas of
applications, etc.
(2) Operation principle such as half-cell and whole cell
reaction, the primary fuels expected to be used for this type
of fuel cells.
(3) Typical (or target) operating conditions such as cell voltage,
cell current density, temperature, pressure, fuel and oxidant
utilization, and chemical to electrical energy conversion
efficiency, etc.
(4) Effect of operating conditions on the cell performance.
(5) Geometrical configuration of cell and stack, typical
materials used for, and the thickness as well as other
dimensions of the cell components.
(6) Components of the fuel cell system such as cooling (thermal
management), product removal, electrolyte management,
fuel processing, control, etc.
(7) Factors affecting long-term performance.
(8) The critical technical barriers to be overcome for
commercialization, the possible solutions and their pros and
cons.
Note: References should be given to give proper credit to the original source
of the information that you present.
Sign-up Sheet for the 1st Presentation
Alkaline Fuel Cells: (Monday, March 3, from 1:30 – 2:50 pm): 2 students
Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cells: (Monday, March 3, from 3:00 – 4:20 pm): 2 students
PEM Fuel Cells: (Monday, March 10, from 1:30 – 4:20 pm): 4 students
Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: (Monday, March 17, from 1:30 – 2:50 pm): (2 students)
Monday, March 17, from 3:00 – 4:20 pm:
Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells (or Direct Alcohol Fuel Cells): 1 student
Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells: 1 student
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells: (Monday, March 24, from 1:30 – 2:50 pm): 2 students
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: (Monday, March 24, from 3:00 – 4:20 pm): 2 students
Requirements/Expectations for the Term Paper/Project
Schedule:
 10 minute presentation
Requirements:
 Specific topic in fuel cells (narrow)
 In-depth knowledge (like summary or review of the specific topic)
 Each student is expected to work on a separate topic (so please email me
your project topic as soon as possible)
 You should have read and referenced a minimum of 10 papers for the report
 Your written report should have a title page, an abstract (or summary) as the
second page, and a reference list in the end. The total number of pages
should be limited to 20 pages inclusive (with 1.5 line spacing and 12 point
size in Times New Roman font type)
 Your report should not have received academic credit at this or any other
institution
Examples of Project Topics:
 Metallic bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells
 Alternate bipolar plate materials for PEM fuel cells
 Alternate electrolyte for low temperature solid oxide fuel cells
 Electrode materials and fabrication in AFCs
 Electrolyte management in AFCs (mobile, immobile, KOH, NaOH, etc.)
 Selection of acid electrolyte for fuel cell applications (H2SO4, HCl,
phosphoric acid, …, superacid)
 Water and heat management in PEM fuel cells
 Catalysts for PEM fuel cells (platinum, platinum alloys, transition metals,
macrocycles, preparation and fabrication process, etc., or any subset of these
subtopics)
A few of Many Relevant Journals available in the library (e-Journal):
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Journal of Power Sources
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Electrochimica Acta
Journal of Applied Electrochemistry
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Project Registration
Student ID
Student Name
#
Project Title
1
2
3
4
5
Term Paper Title
1
2
3
4
5
SPEAKER EVALUATION FORM
Marker’s Name:
Topic:
Speaker:
Category
Needs
Work
Introduction
Previewed topic
Identified purpose
Provided outline
Gained interest
Body
Focused on topic
Developed ideas
Used evidence or examples
Made information understandable
Summary
Provided suitable closure
Questions
Answered questions directly
Prompted audience with questions
Organization
Made main ideas clear
Provided relationships between ideas
Used effective transitions
Visual Presentation
Wrote legibly
Wrote in an organized fashion
Vocal Presentation
Spoke clearly
Used colour of voice to create interest
Spoke enthusiastically
Other Factors
Used appropriate posture and gestures
Maintained eye contact with audience
Total Marks (out of 10) for
Comments:
/
Competent
Very
Good
Comments