High Temperature Membrane Working Group
The High Temperature Membrane Working Group consists of government, industry, and university researchers interested in developing high temperature membranes for fuel cells.
Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.
Description
Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells typically operate at temperatures no higher than 60-80°C due to structural limitations of the membrane. Operating PEM fuel cell stacks at higher temperatures (120°C for transportation and 150°C for stationary applications), however, would yield significant energy benefits.
For example, heat rejection is easier at higher temperatures, which would allow use of smaller heat exchangers in fuel cell power systems. In addition, for reformate fuel cell systems, carbon monoxide (CO) tolerance of the stack is less problematic at higher temperatures, which would reduce the size requirements or possibly eliminate the need for some CO clean-up beds in the fuel processor.
New membranes must be developed to enable fuel cell operation at higher temperature ranges and achieve these energy benefits. This is an important R&D target for DOE. The R&D Plan (PDF 459 KB) for the High-Temperature Membrane Working Group summarizes the current status, challenges, R&D approaches, and technical targets of high temperature membranes for fuel cells.
Project descriptions from the FY 2005 Annual Progress Report for the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program summarize the high temperature membrane R&D activities and accomplishments of FY 2005.
The High Temperature Membrane Working Group has set technical targets and meets twice a year to discuss experimental and computational results.
Points of Contact
John P. Kopasz, Ph.D.
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 South Cass Avenue, Bldg. 205
Argonne, Illinois 60439
Phone: 630-252-7531
Fax: 630-972-44057
E-mail: kopasz@cmt.anl.gov
Professor Jim Fenton
Director, Florida Solar Energy Center
Professor, Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering University of Central Florida
1679 Clearlake Road
Cocoa, Florida 32922-5703
Phone: 321-638-1002
Fax: 321-638-1010
E-mail: jfenton@fsec.ucf.edu
Technical Targets
- Technical Targets for Catalyst Coated Membranes (CCMs): Automotive (PDF 119 KB)
- Technical Targets for Membranes: Automotive (PDF 100 KB)
- Technical Targets for Catalyst Coated Membranes (CCMs): Stationary (PDF 94 KB)
- Technical Targets for Membranes: Stationary (PDF 84 KB)
Meeting Announcements
June 9, 2008, Arlington, VA
This meeting will be held in conjunction with the DOE Hydrogen Program Annual Merit Review.
- Meeting Agenda (PDF 10 KB)
October 2008, Honolulu, HI
The fall 2008 meeting will be held in conjunction with the Pacific Rim Meeting on Electrochemical and Solid State Science, a Joint International Meeting of the ECS and the Electrochemical Society of Japan in Honolulu Hawaii, October 2008. A specific date and time will be provided later.