PEM Fuel and Electrolysis Cells and Hydrogen Infrastructure

主講人 : Prof. Yun Wang

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells or PEMFCs and PEM electrolysis cells or PEMECs are two closely related electrochemical devices having a similar structure: a PEM with catalyst  s (CLs) coated on its surfaces, flow fields, and bipolar plates (BPs). Both systems work at low temperatures (e.g. ～60–80 °C) and can operate free of CO2 emissions. The PEMFC efficiency can reach as high as 65% with water as the only byproduct when using hydrogen as the fuel. PEMFCs have been considered for stationary, transportation, and portable applications. Several PEMFC products are commercially available, including back-up power and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). A challenge that prevents FCEVs from widespread application is that only a few hundred hydrogen refueling stations (HRSs) are available in the world. PEMECs operate in the reverse process of PEMFCs, i.e. hydrogen production through water splitting using electrical energy, and provide a promising source of renewable hydrogen to supply the fueling infrastructure.  In this talk, I will present the current status of PEMFC and PEMEC technologies and their ongoing development, along with hydrogen infrastructure. The similarities and differences in PEMFC and PEMEC structures, materials, and fundamentals will be described and the major challenges and opportunities in the widespread deployment of PEMFCs and PEMECs and hydrogen infrastructure development will be outlined.

主講人簡(jiǎn)介：

Yun Wang received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanics and Engineering Science from Peking University in 1998 and 2001, respectively. He went to the Pennsylvania State University where he earned his Ph.D degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2006. Dr. Wang joined the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at the University of California, Irvine in 2006. He has produced over 100 publications in PEM fuel cell, Li-air battery, and other energy systems, including three books on PEM Fuel Cell. Dr. Wang is currently Professor at the UC Irvine, ASME fellow, RSC fellow, and associate editor for the journal of heat and mass transfer.