Passive Thermal Management Technology for Fuel Cells
Part 1: Control Valve Tests
Last Month’s Qpedia featured part 1 of the two-part article series, “Passive Thermal Management Technology for Fuel Cells”, which discussed control valve tests. The article discussed tests performed by Burke et al, which demonstrated that the passive thermal control of fuel stacks is possible. They found that using either the electronic proportional control valve or the thermostatic valve can effectively control the fuel cell stack temperature. Read Part 1 in the December 2013 Issue by downloading it at: http://www.qats.com/Qpedia-Thermal-eMagazine/Back-Issues-Content/114.aspx
Part 2: Passive Cooling Plates
The second part of “Passive Thermal Technology for Fuel Cells” is featured in this month’s Qpedia, focusing on passive cooling plates. The author discusses the importance of fuel cells by illustrating a description of Burke’s study using passive thermal management technology to regulate the PEMFC stack temperature. This study demonstrated that passive thermal control of fuel cell stacks is feasible and that the passive removal of heat is controllable and provides the highly uniform thermal environment desired for fuel cell operation. This revolutionary thermal control approach was shown to reduce the components and parasitic power compared to the traditional pumped loop thermal control approach.
Download the current Qpedia Thermal eMagazine to read the full article.
