Development of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Stack with Self Humidification
Primary Information
Domain
Energy
Project No.
5931
Sanction and Project Initiation
Sanction No: F.No.:3-18/2015-TS-TS-1
Sanction Date: 29/11/2016
Project Initiation date: 15/03/2017
Project Duration: 36
Partner Ministry/Agency/Industry
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
Role of partner:Tata Motors Ltd. is leading the development of the BoP for the present project which will be further integrated with the stack so that it is suitable for use for light-duty vehicles. At the final stage, the bench test will be performed on the complete system (fuel cell stack + BoP) for different drive cycles.
Support from partner:Partner is contributing in designing the BoP as well as the Bipolar plates. One employee from Tata Motors Ltd. is dedicated for this work.
Principal Investigator
Prakash C Ghosh
IIT Bombay
Host Institute
Co-PIs
Raja Munusamy
Tata Motors Ltd.
Scope and Objectives
Broad objective: Development of PEM fuel cell system suitable for automobile applications in the temperature ranges from room temperature to 85 oC. Specific objectives: Development of efficient flow field design capable of delivering uniform performances Development of light weight bipolar plate system for the stack Development of MEA Development of indigenous fuel cell stack Development of balance of plant (BOP) Integration of BOP with the stack
Deliverables
Three different prototype of fuel cell is planned to delivered as given below: Sl. No. Particulars Prototype1 Prototype2 Prototype3 1 No. of cells 5 24 175 2 Rated power (kW): 0.6 3.0 20.0 3 Op. Voltage V/cell 0.5 0.5 0.5 4 Op. Current (A/cm2) 0.4 0.375 0.35 5 Stack Current (A) 280 262.5 245 6 Vol. power (kW/kg) 0.5 0.7 1 7 Grav. power (kW/L) 0.6 0.7 0.8 8 Reactants H2 & Air H2 & Air H2 & Air 9 Humidification No No No 10 Coolant Liquid Liquid Liquid 11 Op. Prs. bar (abs) 1.5 1.5 1.5 12 Op. Temp.(oC) 50-70 50-70 50-70
Scientific Output
Developed in-house MEA design with IIT Bombay facility Nozzleless electrode coating machine is used Coating is optimized based on Ink flow rate Nozzle frequency Air pressure Nozzle height from GDL Factorial optimization is used for obtaining optimum coating parameters MEA optimized based on the Ink flow rate, Nozzle frequency, Air pressure, Nozzle height from GDL as shown in below Figure 8 and the ranges for different parameters
Results and outcome till date
Scaled up MEA is fabricated and tested in a single cell. Scaled up bipolar plate is fabricated


Societal benefit and impact anticipated
Next steps
The bipolar plate is designed and 20 bipolar plates are fabricated. As the next step, a short stack of 10 cells is planned to fabricate and test the performances.
Publications and reports
1
Patents
Scholars and Project Staff
1 Engineers 1 JRF 1 Technical Assistant
Challenges faced
No MNRE funding received. Hence, it is not sure how to go ahead. Without the funding clarity, it is very difficult to plan the expenditure.
Financial Information
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Total sanction: Rs. 39792000
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Amount received: Rs. 16340000
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Amount utilised for Equipment: Rs. 5101173.85
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Amount utilised for Manpower: Rs. 2528784
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Amount utilised for Consumables: Rs. 396374.17
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Amount utilised for Contingency: Rs. 1111.12
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Amount utilised for Travel: Rs. 61398
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Amount utilised for Other Expenses: 0
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Amount utilised for Overheads: Rs. 1841667
Equipment and facilities
Gasket designing system