(146b) Understanding the impact of compression on the performance of Thin Flexible Fuel Cell (TFFC)
AIChE Annual Meeting
2018
2018 AIChE Annual Meeting
Liaison Functions
Energy & the Environment U.G. Research Session (Invited Talks)
Monday, October 29, 2018 - 12:30pm to 12:55pm
In this study, the group investigated the impact of varying the compression forces on the active area of the TFFC. Preliminary results indicated that a small bulk compression force applied with a simple clamp resulted in a 412% increase in maximum power density from 12.8 mW/cm^2 to 65.4 mW/cm^2. In order to further study the effect of compression the group developed a custom test setup to apply and simultaneously monitor the compression force. The setup was coupled with standard characterization methods to understand the mechanism of these significant performance gains. Additionally, the group designed and fabricated 3D-printed compression plates to examine the effects of different geometries of applied compression to the active area, and to understand factors affecting the flow of ambient air to the cathode. We will report the custom compression setup and interpret our results to best explain the mechanism of these performance gains in the TFFC from compression.