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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ryan J. Milcarek
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Guest Editor

School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-6106, USA
Interests: fuel cells; combustion; combined heat and power; thermodynamics; energy efficiency and emissions reduction
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Dr. Jeongmin Ahn
E-Mail Website

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Guest Editor

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Interests: advanced energy conversion; fuel cells; batteries; combustion; thermal management

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fuel cell technology continues to advance and is being deployed worldwide in many applications. To date, successful applications have included transportation applications such as vehicles, stationary power such as micro-combined heat and power, and a range of portable power applications. While the use of hydrogen fuel has been established, direct operation with hydrocarbons is an ongoing research topic. Hydrocarbons fuels are readily available and, if deployed directly in fuel cells, can result in more efficient power generation and lower emissions than conventional heat engines.

Many approaches have been explored for the direct use of hydrocarbons in fuel cell applications, including novel system designs as well as catalyst and material development. System design includes ongoing research in partial oxidation reformers, steam reformers, water gas shift reactors, direct flame fuel cells, and flame-assisted fuel cells, among others.

This Special Issue is focused on advances in the direct use of hydrocarbons for fuel cell applications. Submissions are encouraged in each of following general areas:

Fuel cell system design for hydrocarbons fuels;
Partial oxidation, steam reforming, and other reactors for hydrocarbon use in fuel cells;
Direct flame and flame-assisted fuel cells;
Innovative catalysts and materials for direct use of hydrocarbons;
Fuel cell applications that may be better served with hydrocarbons.

This issue will bring together recent research in an effort to identify new opportunities for innovation in this field.

Dr. Ryan J. Milcarek
Dr. Jeongmin Ahn
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
fuel cells
partial oxidation
syngas generation
advanced combustion process
direct hydrocarbon energy conversion

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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Open AccessArticle

Modeling and Simulation of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Alongside a Waste Heat Recovery System Based on the Organic Rankine Cycle in MATLAB/SIMULINK Environment

Sharjeel Ashraf Ansari

Mustafa Khalid

Khurram Kamal

Tahir Abdul Hussain Ratlamwala

Ghulam Hussain

and

Mohammed Alkahtani

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1218; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031218 - 25 Jan 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 815

Abstract

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is the fastest growing fuel cell technology on the market. Due to their sustainable nature, PEMFCs are widely adopted as a renewable energy resource. Fabricating a PEMFC is a costly process; hence, mathematical modeling and simulations are necessary in order to fully optimize its performance. Alongside this, the feasibility of a waste heat recovery system based on the organic Rankine cycle is also studied and power generation for different operating conditions is presented. The fuel cell produces a power output of 1198 W at a current of 24A. It has 50% efficiency and hence produces an equal amount of waste heat. That waste heat is used to drive an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), which in turn produces an additional 428 W of power at 35% efficiency. The total extracted power hence stands at 1626 W. MATLAB/Simulink R2016a is used for modeling both the fuel cell and the organic Rankine cycle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Direct Use of Hydrocarbons for Fuel Cell Applications)

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Review

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Open AccessReview

Direct-Hydrocarbon Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cells

Fan Liu

and

Chuancheng Duan

Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4736; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094736 - 23 Apr 2021

Viewed by 508

Abstract

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are promising and rugged solid-state power sources that can directly and electrochemically convert the chemical energy into electric power. Direct-hydrocarbon SOFCs eliminate the external reformers; thus, the system is significantly simplified and the capital cost is reduced. SOFCs comprise the cathode, electrolyte, and anode, of which the anode is of paramount importance as its catalytic activity and chemical stability are key to direct-hydrocarbon SOFCs. The conventional SOFC anode is composed of a Ni-based metallic phase that conducts electrons, and an oxygen-ion conducting oxide, such as yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), which exhibits an ionic conductivity of 10⁻³–10⁻² S cm⁻¹ at 700 °C. Although YSZ-based SOFCs are being commercialized, YSZ-Ni anodes are still suffering from carbon deposition (coking) and sulfur poisoning, ensuing performance degradation. Furthermore, the high operating temperatures (>700 °C) also pose challenges to the system compatibility, leading to poor long-term durability. To reduce operating temperatures of SOFCs, intermediate-temperature proton-conducting SOFCs (P-SOFCs) are being developed as alternatives, which give rise to superior power densities, coking and sulfur tolerance, and durability. Due to these advances, there are growing efforts to implement proton-conducting oxides to improve durability of direct-hydrocarbon SOFCs. However, so far, there is no review article that focuses on direct-hydrocarbon P-SOFCs. This concise review aims to first introduce the fundamentals of direct-hydrocarbon P-SOFCs and unique surface properties of proton-conducting oxides, then summarize the most up-to-date achievements as well as current challenges of P-SOFCs. Finally, strategies to overcome those challenges are suggested to advance the development of direct-hydrocarbon SOFCs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Direct Use of Hydrocarbons for Fuel Cell Applications)

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