Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Seminar: Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Green Jobs
Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy and Green Jobs
Florida’s and the nation’s current energy situation in terms of electricity and automobile transportation will be discussed, including home energy efficiency (51% of Florida’s electricity is consumed by our residences) and rooftop solar energy generation as solar thermal hot water and photovoltaic electricity. Transportation efficiency will also be discussed, followed by education information for solar installers and contractors, building code officials, emergency management personnel, energy raters, K-12: students, teachers, and consumers.
High Temperature MEA Development for PEM Fuel Cells
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have received worldwide attention as a key component of the hydrogen economy. Generally two regimes of PEMFC operation exist: typical operating temperatures between 60 – 80°C and elevated temperatures higher than 100°C. Current automotive radiators cannot reject sufficient waste heat at continuous full power using lower (60 – 80°C) fuel cell stack temperatures. Running the stack at 120ºC under full load would allow the use of radiators similar to those available in automobiles today. This has driven the need for development of high-temperature membranes and membrane electrode assemblies that operate at temperatures of up to 120ºC, low relative humidity and near atmospheric pressure. Nafion® and Non-Nafion® based poly[perfluorosulfonic acids] (PFSAs) of equivalent weight lower than 1100 and hydrocarbon membranes such as sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)s (SPEEKs) have been fabricated into new composite membranes containing small particle-stabilized solid proton conductors, such as phosphotungstic acid. Innovative proton exchange membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs) made from these new membranes have been developed that provide excellent ionic conductivity and good performance in an under-saturated environment (120°C, 1 atm., 35% RH and 70°C, 1 atm., dry). A rational approach to deconvolute fuel cell performance data into activation, ohmic and transport related components will be described. Membrane degradation studies using an in-situ and nondestructive technique, which relies on the measurement of the membrane degradation rate in a fuel cell, will also be presented.
Persons with disabilities have the right to request and receive reasonable accommodation. Please call the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at 355-5135 at least one day prior to the seminar; requests received after this date will be met when possible.