Effect of corrosion inhibitors on hydrogen uptake by Al from NaOH solution

Corrosion rate, hydrogen permeation rate (hydrogen uptake) and stress corrosion cracking of Al were studied in NaOH solutions, pure and with the addition of H₃BO₃, EDTA, KMnO₄ and As₂O₃. The presence of the studied species in electrolyte and the implantation of Al surface with B⁺ ions inhibited corrosion. Hydrogen uptake was found to be promoted or inhibited by means of studied species, depending on the method of their introduction into the base solution and on the applied polarization. The observed different influence of corrosion inhibitors on the hydrogen uptake was associated with the different chemical composition and structure (revealed by XPS analysis) of the surface films, formed on Al under the various conditions. Under similar polarization conditions, the presence of H₃BO₃ in the base solution similarly affected the hydrogen uptake by Al and the susceptibility to stress corrosion cracking of the metal.     

Energy management strategy of Supercapacitor/Fuel Cell energy storage devices for vehicle applications

This paper addresses the management of a Fuel Cell (FC) – Supercapacitor (SC) hybrid power source for Electric Vehicle (EV) applications. The FC presents the main energy source and it is sustained with SCs energy storages in order to increase the FC source lifespan by mitigating harmful current transients. For this aim, the reported work proposes a Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) for an efficient power management of the studied hybrid power system. The key idea of the proposed approach is to incorporate the benefit of the GWO in terms of fast optimization and convergence accuracy, in order to achieve efficient energy sources exploitation and provide the desired driving performances. Simulations and experimental results verify the validity of the proposed management algorithm.     

Fabrication and characterization of poly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite/poly(styrene sulfonic acid) proton-conducting composite membranes for direct methanol fuel cells

A high performance poly(vinyl alcohol)/montmorillonite/poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PVA/MMT/PSSA) proton-conducting composite membrane was fabricated by a solution casting method. The characteristic properties of these blend composite membranes were investigated by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, methanol permeability measurement, and the AC impedance method. The ionic conductivities for the composite membranes are in the order of 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at ambient temperature. There are two proton sources used on this novel composite membrane: the modified MMT fillers and PSSA polymer, both materials all contain the -SO₃H group. Therefore, the ionic conductivity was greatly enhanced. The methanol permeabilities of PVA/MMT/PSSA composite membranes is of the order of 10⁻⁷ cm² s⁻¹. It is due to the excellent methanol barrier properties of the PVA polymer. The peak power densities of the air-breathing direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) with 1M, 2M, 4M CH₃OH fuels were 14.22, 20.00, and 13.09 mW cm⁻², respectively, at ambient conditions. The direct methanol fuel cell with this composite polymer membrane exhibited good electrochemical performance. The proposed PVA/MMT/PSSA composite membrane is therefore a potential candidate for future applications in DMFC.     

A framework for stochastic estimation of electric vehicle charging behavior for risk assessment of distribution networks

Power systems are being transformed to enhance the sustainability. This paper contributes to the knowledge regarding the operational process of future power networks by developing a realistic and stochastic charging model of electric vehicles (EVs). Large-scale integration of EVs into residential distribution networks (RDNs) is an evolving issue of paramount significance for utility operators. Unbalanced voltages prevent effective and reliable operation of RDNs. Diversified EV loads require a stochastic approach to predict EVs charging demand, consequently, a probabilistic model is developed to account several realistic aspects comprising charging time, battery capacity, driving mileage, state-of-charge, traveling frequency, charging power, and time-of-use mechanism under peak and off-peak charging strategies. An attempt is made to examine risks associated with RDNs by applying a stochastic model of EVs charging pattern. The output of EV stochastic model obtained from Monte-Carlo simulations is utilized to evaluate the power quality parameters of RDNs. The equipment capability of RDNs must be evaluated to determine the potential overloads. Performance specifications of RDNs including voltage unbalance factor, voltage behavior, domestic transformer limits and feeder losses are assessed in context to EV charging scenarios with various charging power levels at different penetration levels. Moreover, the impact assessment of EVs on RDNs is found to majorly rely on the type and location of a power network.     

A methodology for the performance evaluation of an experimental desiccant cooling system

An experimental investigation was conducted in an open cycle desiccant cooling system (DCS) operating on the ventilation mode in the laboratory site [M. Yıldırım, An experimental investigation on heat and mass transfer in a desiccant cooling system, PhD thesis, Gaziantep University, Turkey (2002). [1]]. Although the operation of DCS is presumably affected by the design of primary components of rotary regenerator (RR) and desiccant wheel (DW) the methodology used in the analysis of experimental data is presented in this paper to set a different approach for the performance evaluation of similar systems.

The rotational speeds of RR and DW (N_RR and N_DW), air mass flow rate (m_a) in process and regeneration lines, and the regeneration temperature (T_R) were defined as operation parameters. Meanwhile coefficient of performance (COP) and cooling capacity (CC) of the system were called as the performance parameters. The system operation with a variety of experimental conditions resulted in an extensive data set covering the ranges of N_RR, N_DW, m_a and T_R as 5 rpm ≤ N_RR ≤ 20 rpm, 0.1 rpm ≤ N_DW ≤ 0.4 rpm, 0.05 kg/s ≤ m_a ≤ 0.139 kg/s and 60 °C ≤ T_R ≤ 90 °C, respectively. The interactive influence of the operation parameters was determined through the realization of the psychrometric cycle in deviation from an ideal cycle. A dimensional analysis based on a trial and error procedure was followed to determine the functional relationship of COP and CC.

The proposed correlations between COP and CC and the introduced system performance parameter (PP) were determined to be a sole function of m_a independent of N_RR, N_DW and T_R in their covered ranges.     

Designing and modelling of the asymptotic perturbed extremum seeking control scheme for tracking the global extreme

This paper presents the designing and modeling of the Asymptotic Perturbed Extremum Seeking Control (aPESC) scheme that is capable to locate and track the Global Extremes on the multimodal patterns. The multimodal patterns may appear on power generated by a photovoltaic (PV) array under Partial Shading Conditions (PSCs), but also on net power generated by a Fuel Cell (FC) system. The proposed aPESC scheme uses a scanning technique to determine the GMPP on different multimodal patterns based on two components of the searching signal: (1) the scanning signal locates the LMPP by sweeping the PV pattern based on a asymptotic dither modulated by the first harmonic of the PV power and controlled by the dither gain (k₂); (2) the tracking signal finds and tracks accurately the GMPP based on similar loop used in PESC schemes proposed in the literature that is controlled by the loop gain (k₁). These tuning parameters are designed based on the averaged model of this aPESC scheme. Also, the averaged scheme and local averaged loop of the aPESCH1 scheme are used to estimate the searching gradient and analyze the closed ESC loop stability. The design methodology is tested on generic multimodal patterns and then is validated considering a PV system and a FC system.     

Study on hydrogen storage properties of LaNi3.8Al1.2−xMnx alloys

Effects of the Mn substitution on microstructures and hydrogen absorption/desorption properties of LaNi_3.8Al_1.2−xMn_x (x = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6) hydrogen storage alloys were investigated. The pressure-composition (PC) isotherms and absorption kinetics were measured in a temperature range of 433 K ≤ T ≤ 473 K by the volumetric method. XRD analyses showed that with the increase of the Mn content in the LaNi_3.8Al_1.2−xMn_x alloys, the lattice parameter a was decreased, c increased and the unit cell volume V reduced. It was found that the absorption/desorption plateau pressure was increased and the hydrogen storage capacity was enhanced with the increase of Mn content. The absorption/desorption plateau pressure of the alloys was linearly changed with the Mn content x and the lattice parameter a, while the hydrogen storage capacity was linearly increased with the increase of c/a ratio. It was also found that the slope factor S_f was closely correlated with the lattice strain of the alloys.     

Development of CdS based stable thin film photo electrochemical solar cells

CdS semiconductor films have been prepared from chemical bath deposition from basic solutions. Electron microscopic studies have revealed the presence of polycrystalline mixed cubic and hexagonal phases of CdS in the deposits. When surface treated, these layers show good photo electro chemical behaviour in Ti/CdS/S/C cell configuration where as photo etching improves the stability of CdS photo anode in polysulphide electrolyte to a great extent. Optical absorption studies of these films have been carried out in the wavelength range 350–800 nm.     

Miniaturized polymeric enzymatic biofuel cell with integrated microfluidic device and enhanced laser ablated bioelectrodes

The present work establishes a simple, customized, and economical laser-induced graphene (LIG) material produced using a CO₂ laser. The one-step LIG bioelectrodes have been further validated for Enzymatic Biofuel Cell (EBFC) application by integrating them into a microfluidic device, fabricated by the conventional soft-lithography on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). This electrode and device manufacturing technology delivers a simple and quick fabrication method, which eliminates the necessity of any further amendment and post-processing. LIG electrodes were created at optimized CO₂ laser (5.1 W power and 0.625 cm s^?1 speed) irradiation which has been further modified by Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT), called C-LIG electrodes, which offers improved performance and enzyme stability. In this novel study, CNT functionalized LIG electrodes have been incorporated into a microfluidic device for biofuel cell applications. LIG and C-LIG bioelectrodes have been integrated into a microfluidic device under the laminar fluid flow regime and the electrochemical and polarization study of the platform have been carried out. This C-LIG bioelectrodes integrated microfluidic device, without any metal catalyst, generated 2.2 μW/cm² power density with an optimized 200 μl/min flow rate which is 1.37 times higher than the LIG bioelectrodes. Such novel and simple EBFC platform is amenable to further improvement for generating even more power output by optimizing the LIG formation, alternate nano-functionalisation and mediator based electrochemical analysis.     

Development of hybrid energy system with cycle charging strategy using particle swarm optimization for a remote area in India

In recent years, renewable energy can be seen as one of the important prospect of today's research, as it is likely to enlighten the lives of millions of people by fulfilling demand of electricity in their daily life. The present work focuses on the development of optimal hybrid energy system sizing model based on comparative analysis of particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithm and Homer software for energy index ratio of 1. The model also incorporates renewable fraction, emissions of carbon di oxide from diesel generator, net present cost and cost of energy. The system is developed to supply the demand of 7 un-electrified villages of Dhauladevi block of Almora district in Uttarakhand, India with the help of the available resources of solar, hydro, biomass and biogas energy along with the addition of diesel generator, for meeting out the energy deficit. From the optimization results, minimum cost of energy and maximum renewable fraction are obtained as 5.77 Rs/kWh and 92.6% respectively.