A Feasibility Study of Using Oxygen Enrichment for Fuel Cell Air Independent Propulsion.

Abstract

It is shown that the output power from a polymer electrolyte membrane (PRM) fuel cell oxygen follows a quadratic relationship with increasing oxygen concentration. Using this information, a potential application of using oxygen enrichment membrane technology for an air breathing fuel cell was investigated. The system chosen was a hypothetical FEM fuel cell powered air independent propulsion system in a conventional diesel electric submarine. A simple model of the system was made using linear programming. The results showed that using existing membrane technology for oxygen enrichment of the incoming air stream, two compressor stages were required whose power requirements were too great for the system. A 30% improvement over existing molecular selectivity in membrane oxygen enrichment technology would allow a single compressor stage, however, 40% of the fuel cell power would still be needed to power the required compressor stage.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1996
Accession Number
ADA322322

Entities

People

  • Gregory A. Clark
  • M. J. Rowan

Organizations

  • Defence Science and Technology Group

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Chemistry
  • Detection
  • Energy
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Fuel Cells
  • Generators
  • Linear Programming
  • Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Naval Architecture
  • Naval Warfare
  • Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
  • Power Supplies
  • Submarine Warfare
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Electrochemical Engineering/ Fuel Cell Technologies
  • Underwater engineering and Marine Technology.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology