Process system

engineering in direct
methanol fuel cell
Authors :
S. Basri a, S.K. Kamarudin
i n t e r n a t i o n a l journal of hydrogen energy 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 )

Antonio de Jess Gmez Montenegro

Objective
This paper presents a detailed description of
various fuel designs DMFC flow field and
their respective advantages.
This paper also discussed the current
approaches and challenges exist, fuel supply
and fuel storage systems, including active
and passive DMFC and microfluidic systems.

Introduction

Fuel cells were currently being studied in most energy development fields
as future green energy sources. Fuel cells offered stable power
generation, transportation and traction to portable and micro-scale
electronics.
Although a number of fuel-cell technologies were available for various
applications, only those that permit near-room-temperature operation are
suitable for portable electronics. Therefore, polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs),
which could operate at temperatures below 80 C, were a natural choice.
The choice of fuel was also critical for commercial applications. Due to
the storage, transportation and safety issues involved with hydrogen, fuel
cells that used methanol as their fuel have recently attracted considerable
attention. Methanol has the highest energy-to-carbon ratio of any
saturated alcohol and is the only alcohol that can be completely oxidised
in a PEMFC. These advantages of methanol were a good choice for
alternative fuel applications. The benefits and challenges encountered in
the development of DMFCs had been discussed in detail elsewhere.

Direct methanol fuel cell

Chemistry diagnosis of direct methanol

fuel cell
Microsystem engineering in direct
methanol fuel cell
Process engineering of the direct
methanol fuel cell

Results
In this review, the process system engineering of the direct methanol
fuel cell has been illustrated from the DMFC construction and
modeling perspective. Overall, DMFC systems have unique PSE
issues to investigate. Mature DMFCs have been penetrating into all
fields of chemical engineering and also into commercially available
technologies.
MSO technologies for DMFCs have become a commodity; they are
not a distinguishing feature of the PSE field any more. Consequently,
PSE has to reassess and to reposition its future research agenda.
Emphasis should be placed on model-based applications in all PSE
of DMFC domains including product and process design, control and
operations. Due to the limitation of DMFC fabrication, as described, a
strong effort as is needed to establish the DMFC until itcan be
commercialized.

Conclusion
Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) were promising candidates as power sources for
portable electronic devices because of their high power density and efficient and
environmentally friendly operations. The advantages of flow design were primary
factors in determining the performance of the fuel distribution.
Some approaches had been highlighted such as micro-fluidic systems, natural
circulation systems and piezoelectric valve-less micro- pump devices .In
general,active systems require an external component such as a pump, valve,or
concentration controller to deliver the fluid to the system, but these components were
not required for the passive system.