Parametric Analysis of the Optimal CO content in A High Temperature PBI membrane

Abstract

An experimental investigation is conducted on a high temperature, single cell PEM with three different concentrations of CO with the intent of establishing acceptable carbon monoxide content from reformates. Hydrogen of 99.997% purity is used as a baseline fuel while 2 and 5 % CO contents are tested at 150 oC to 190 oC. Results from these tests reveal significant and unacceptable reduction of cell performance with temperature below 150 oC while the performance characteristic of the tested blends tends to converge at higher temperatures around 190 oC and above. Prior work characterized the operation of the system over a sparse range of CO operational envelope. The current work will fill the gap to generate an operational envelope of CO percentage good for high temperature PEM fuel cell operation.