1

Contents
1.

AIR AND WATER HEAT PUMP..................................................2

1.1.
INTRODUCTION................................................................................... 1
1.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND..................................................................2
1.2.1. Idealised Vapour compression cycle...........................................3
1.2.2. The practical vapour compression cycle.....................................3
1.2.3. Formulae Needed.......................................................................4
1.3. EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURE................................................................4
1.4. EXPERIMENT EQUIPMENT......................................................................4
1.5. EXPERIMENT PROCEDURE.....................................................................5
1.5.1. Exp 1A procedure.......................................................................5
1.5.2. Exp 1B procedure.......................................................................5
1.5.3. Experimental Results..................................................................6
1.6. CALCULATION RESULTS.........................................................................7
1.7. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS......................................................................8
1.8. CONCLUSION...................................................................................... 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................10
2.

ENGINEERING EQUATION SOLVER.........................................11

2.1. INTRODUCTION.................................................................................12
2.2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND................................................................13
2.3. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE................................................................14
2.4. APPENDIX........................................................................................ 15

3.

DETERMINING THE EFFICIENCY OF A FUEL CELL....................17

3.1. DECLARATION................................................................................... 18
3.2. ABSTRACT....................................................................................... 19
3.3.
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................20
3.4. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.......................................................................21
3.5. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND................................................................22
3.6. EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURE..............................................................24
3.6.1. Experiment Equipment.............................................................24
3.6.2. Experiment Procedure..............................................................24
3.7. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS.....................................................................25
3.8. CALCULATIONS.................................................................................26
3.9. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS....................................................................28
3.10. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................28
3.10.1. Conclusion.............................................................................. 28
3.10.2. Recommendations..................................................................28

BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................29

Dublin Institute of Technology

School of Mechanical and Design Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

in
Mechanical Engineering

1. Air and Water Heat Pump

Lecturer: Dr. Anthony Reynolds

Dublin Institute of Technology

Bolton Street, Dublin 1.

I. Declaration
I hereby certify that the material, which is submitted in this assignment, other than
what is appropriately referenced, is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for any
academic assessment other than as part fulfilment of the assessment procedures for the
programme Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering (DT/022).

I authorise Dublin Institute of Technology to lend out single copies as requested.

Signed:

Date:

II. Abstract
This report detail the methodology for measuring a heat pump and finding the COP.
This was completed in two methods. The first takes readings from a heat pump and plots the
readings on a P-h diagram the second takes readings from a heat pump and calculates the
COP, the P-h diagram or ideal cycle gave a COP of 4.4 while the actual cycle gave a reading
of 3.25. this is a difference of 26% and can be accounted for by friction losses with in the
system and heat losses to the surroundings.

III.

List of Figures

FIGURE 1, EXAMPLE OF THE VAPOUR COMPRESSION CYCLE..............................................................2

FIGURE 2, IDEAL VAPOUR COMPRESSION CYCLE.............................................................................3

IV.

List of Tables

TABLE 1, READINGS
TABLE 2, READINGS

FORM
FORM

EXP1A.............................................................................................. 6
EXP1B.............................................................................................. 6

2. Introduction
This lab set out to complete two different experiments Exp1A which sets out to gather
results on a heat pump system and then plot the results on a P-h diagram and use the results to
find the COP. Exp1B which intends to take reading again form the same heat pump system
and use an analytical approach to find the COP of the system. It details the approach about
how to gather the readings from the heat pump system and then how the calculations were
performed. The results are then compared against each other to see what the difference
between the results are and why the differences exist.

3. Theoretical Background
Heating houses is one of the largest costs that the average consumer must deal with in
recent times. This is due to the rising energy costs. This means that people are now moving
away from traditional means of heating their homes like oil or gas. New areas that people are
examining is technology like heat pumps. A heat pump moves thermal energy form a cold
area to a hot area. As stated in the second law of thermodynamics it is impossible to transfer
heat from a region at a low temperature to another region at a high temperature without the
expenditure of energy. Heat pumps and refrigerators are examples of machines that transfer
heat from cold to hot. The difference is that a refrigerator is designed to cool a region or
system and [1] a heat pump is designed to heat a region. In simple terms a heat pump is a
machine that drives a system of heat collection and release [1]. Heat pump uses an electrical
compressor which moves a refrigerant around a closed circuit. A heat exchanger takes heat
from the surroundings and moves that heat to the refrigerant through the compressor, at this
stage the refrigerant temperature is raised. This heat is then passed again through another heat
exchanger and passed to the area that is designated to be heated [1]. There are three main
types of heat pump. They are as follows:
Air source
Ground source
Water source
The main difference between the three types of heat pump is the source that the heat
pump is gathering the heat from. In this lab the heat was sourced from the surrounding air.
There was the capability to gather heat form a water source in the lab equipment but was not
utilised here.
The workings of a hat pump are based on the refrigerant cycle. A sciatic of the
refrigerant cycle can be seen in Figure 1. This is an example of an ideal vapour compression
cycle.

Figure 1, example of the Vapour compression cycle.

The refrigerant that was used in the Lab is HFC134A. this liquid is passed at high
pressure through a flow meter to a thermostatically controlled expansion valve. This then

3
causes a reduction in the pressure and the liquid begins to evaporator in a designed
evaporator. Control of the heat pump is done by varying the condensing temperature by the
source air.

3.1.1. Idealised Vapour compression cycle

The ideal vapour compression that can be seen in both Figure 1 and Figure 2is as
follows, Saturated vapour at 1 is compressed isentropic ally form low pressure P1 to a high
pressure P2. Superheated vapour at state 2 is passed into a condenser and heat is rejected at
constant pressure to a cooling medium so that the vapour condenses and becomes saturated
liquid at state 3. The high pressure saturated liquid is throttled from P3 to P4 and the resulting
very wet vapour is passed into an evaporator at state 4. In the evaporator the vapour
evaporates at a low temperature taking in heat form the low temperature reservoir and reaches
state. 1 the cycle can now have repeated itself now.

Figure 2, Ideal vapour compression cycle

3.1.2. The practical vapour compression cycle

There are five key differences between the ideal cycle and the practical cycle.
Due to friction there is be a real world pressure drop between the compressor and the
expansion valve. This pressure drop is now built into the ideal cycle.
The compression processes are neither adiabatic or reversible. There will usually be a
heat loss from the compressor and there will again be friction losses.
The vapour leaving the evaporator is usually superheated
The liquid leaving the condenser is usually super cooled
There may be small heat inputs or losses to and from the surroundings to all parts of
the circuit depending upon there temperature and the surroundings temperate.

3.1.3. Formulae Needed

This section for the report gives the formula that was used along with any expiations
that are required to use the formula.
Qcomp=mc C pw (t 6t 5)
Q c =m c C pw (t 7 t 6 )
CO Php=Rate of heat delivered /compressorelectrical power input
If the heat delivered to the condenser is only considered,
CO Php=

Qc
W

If the total heat delivered to the water is considered

CO Php=
Where,
Qcomp
Qc

= heat delivered to the cooling water form compressor,

= heat delivered to condenser cooling water,

CO Php
C pw

Q c +Qcomp
W

= coefficient of performance of heat pump

= Specific heat of water (4.18 kJ/kgoC)

4. Equipment and Procedure

During this lab there was two experiments done. These will be referenced as Exp 1A
and Exp 1B.
In Exp1A the objective was to determine the power input and the power output as well
as the coefficient of performance of the heat pump.
In Exp1B the propose was to draw the actual or real vapour compressor cycle on a P-h
diagram and compare it to the actual cycle.

5. Experiment Equipment
For both Exp1A and for Exp1B the same equipment was used. The system was Air
and Water Pump R832. This is a fully instrumented vapour and compression heat pump
operating on R134a with aluminium finned air source with a simmer water source, with this
equipment the evaporator source may be selected using a simple switch, the instrumentation
of this is as follows
Digital temperature indicator, this gives out a temperature reading

Condenser and evaporator pressure gauges,

Flow meters which give the volume flow rate of the water in the system,
High pressure switch which is a safety device
Compressor thermal overload switch which is a safety device.
Residual current circuit breaker and overload cut out which is a safety feature

6. Experiment Procedure
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

6.1.1. Exp 1A procedure

Turn on the water supply to the unit by turning the main switch
Select the air evaporator
Set the condenser gauge pressure to between 700-1100kN/m2
Allow the unit reach steady state.
Fill in the lab hand out which the appointed measurements,
6.1.2. Exp 1B procedure
Turn on the water to the unit
Select the air evaporator
Set the condenser cooling water flow rate to approximately 50% of the full flow, (in
this lab this was increased)
Allowing the unit to reach steady state
Fill in the lab hand out which the appointed measurements,

6.1.3. Experimental Results

In this report the readings that were got ton from both the experiments will be
displayed in table form. Table 1 will give the results from Exp 1A and table 2 will give the
readings that were taken in Exp 1B. The results that are found from Exp1A are then used to
plot the actual cycle on the P-h Diagram this diagram will be supplied and can be found at the
end of the report
Table 1, Readings form Exp1A

S. No
1
2
3
4
5

Particulars
Compressor
electrical power
input
Compressor cooling
water outlet
temperature
Condenser water
outlet temperature
Condenser water
outlet temperature
Condenser water
mass flow rate

Units
Watts

Reading
490

27.8

27.6

35.2

g/s

50

C
C

Table 2, Readings form Exp1B

S. No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Particulars
HFC134a gauge
pressure at compressor
suction (P1)
HFC134a absolute
pressure at compressor
suction (P1)
HFC134a gauge
pressure at compressor
discharger (P2)
HFC134a absolute
pressure at compressor
discharge (P2)
HFC134 temperature
at compressor suction
(t1)
HFC134a temperature
at compressor
discharge (t2)
HFC134atemperature

Units
kN/m2

Reading
200

kN/m2

302.6

kN/m2

900

kN/m2

1002.6

26.7

92.9

38.2

C
C
C

7
condensed liquid (t3)
HFC134a temperature
at expansion valve
outlet (t4)

3.5

7. Calculation Results
For Exp1 The readings are plotted on the P-h diagram to get the actual cycle from the diagram
values are obtained

W = 50
h1 = 320
h2 = 375
h3-4 = 150
With these readings the COP of the heat pump can be found form the actual cycle.
COPhp=

Qc
W

This can be translated to.

h h
COPhp= 2 4
W
COPhp=4.4
This is the COP of the cycle using the diagram. And is the result for Exp1A
Exp1B then calculates the actual COP of the system
Qcomp=( 50 )( 4.18 )( 27.627.8 )=0.042 kW
Qc =1.5884 kW

COPhp=

1.58840.042
=3.1559
0.49

8. Discussion of Results
The COP found in Exp1a form the cycle appears to be a realistic result. It is also larger
than the actual COP that was calculated and this is an expected difference.
When looking at the numbers (t6-t5) outputs a negative number. This is an error
because the compressor is outputting heat to the surrounding environment which can be
proven by simply touching the compressor. If this is the case the difference between t6-t5
cant be negative as this would state that it is adsorbing heat. This error may have occurred
because of a non-steady state reading taken during the lab. The unit was not allowed to reach
steady state during the lab because it was being operated at it capacity which meant that it
required more time then when ran at a lower capacity. This inability to reach may have cause
an error at this point causing the negative value. Another possible cause of the error is the
temperature measuring equipments senility. If the true difference between t6-t5 was less, then
a degree or two and the thermos couples had a resolution of a degree of two an error can occur
in the readings as thermos couples with a greater sensitivity would be required to give a
precise reading. The error that was created is a small error and does not make the results
invalid but it should be noted.
In the theory it was noted that there would be friction pressure drop between the
compressor discharge and the expansion valve as well as the expansion outlet and the
compressor suction. This was seen in the P-h diagram when daring point 3 and point 4. There
was an error in the lines of constant pressure and the points and proved the theory against the
idea cycle and the actual cycle.
The result form the P-h diagram which is an ideal cycle for a vapour and compression
system was 4.4 and the analytical result was 3.24. there is a large difference between the two
results. This is because the ideal cycle does not take into account losses of heat in to the
environment and losses due to friction. While the experimental results are readings from the
system. This means that the losses are incorporated into the readings. The difference in the
COP values shows this as well. The higher COP from the ideal cycle comes because these
losses are not measure or regarded while the lower COP has taken these losses in to account
and its COP has dropped accordingly.

10

9. Conclusion
Heat pump can be one way to reduce a domestic energy bill over conventional heating
solutions but here are problems. Heat pumps work best when left on constantly and not
intimately switched on and off. They also preform best in environments with a constant
temperature. Ireland has a high fluctuation in the environmental temperature each day as well
as per season this can cause the heat pump to draw far more electricity the was originally
intended. If this is the case, they can in fact increase the overall energy bill so installation of
them must be done with care and understanding. One of the traits of a heat pump is that the
greater the temperature difference the lower the COP. So heat pumps work best when there is
a smaller temperature change required.

11

Bibliography
1]

2]

[
Seai, Sustainable energy authority of Ireland., Heat Pump Technologies,
Seai,
[Online].
Available:
http://www.seai.ie/Publications/Your_Home_Publications_/Heating/Best_Practice_G
uide_Heat_Pump_technologies.pdf. [Accessed 05 10 2016].
[

12

Dublin Institute of Technology

School of Mechanical and Design Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

in
Mechanical Engineering

10. Engineering equation solver

Lecturer: Dr. Anthony Reynolds

Dublin Institute of Technology

Bolton Street, Dublin 1.

13

11. Introduction

14

12. Theoretical background

Engineering equation solver (EES) is a commercial software package that can be used to
solved a multitude of coupled linear and non-linear differential equations. It is important to
note that EES is an equation solver. EES uses equations rather than assignments that are used
in a formal programming language. There are several benefits to using EES which include
unite checking, optimization, high quality property data, plotting and uncertainty analysis.
These features give EES the ability to solve several types of engineering systems. [2]. EES
has the ability to solve up to 6000 equations simultaneously. EES was devolved by the
company fchart. The information that is entered into EES amounts to the mathematical model
that is built of the engineering system. These are properties like mass, entropy and density to
mention a few. These are gain from data and theory. With this data and information about the
system the equations are entered into EES. The equations are then solved in EES and the
information is given out. The procedure will be detailed later in the report. The properties
tables that are built into EES are what makes the program beneficial. These tables include Air
tables as well as psychometric functions and JANAF table data. They also extend to common
gases and transport properties for these gases are also included. EES also gives the user the
ability to input data into the software to be used by the solver. This means that uncommon
gases that are not preprogramed into the system can be uploaded and used later.
EES arose from the teaching of mechanical engineering thermodynamics and heat transferee,
during the teaching processes a lot of time was spent on looking up tables for the relevant
information. The problem with this is that once the student understands the tables and how to
use the tables there is no longer any benefit in practicing their use. F-Software say that the
time that the student spends looking up the tables may actually detract from the overall
learning. EES frees the user from the basic tasks and frees them in focusing on the design
processes [3].

15

13. Experimental Procedure

The procedure for this lab followed a simple format. The Lecture handed out a sheet which
detailed the code that was to be used during the lab. This code can be found in Appendix A.
this was the code that was used during the lab. In this code values fo the pump the mixing
chamber, the second pump and the turbine are inputed. These values are give nmaes in the
code and how they relate to each other.
After the code was inputted into the equation window of EES it was checked for errors. If any
errors were found the program would return the amount of errors and the code would have to
be checked and the problems fixed. Once the code is clear of errors and the values are correct
the program can be ran. This gives the solution to the theoretical system. Once the program
gives the user the answers the units for each of the values must be checked and altered if
required. This was done for this system and the units that are displayed in Appendix A gvesa
the altered units.

16

14. Appendix A
File:(Untitled) 18/10/2016 16:51:03 Page 1
EES Ver. 10.118: #3624: For use only by students and faculty in Mechanical Engineering, Dublin Institute of
Technology
given
P6 = 7000 [kPa]
T6 = 500 [C]
P7 = 600 [kPa]
P8 = 10 [kPa]
m = 30 [kg/s]
m7 = 1 / 4 m [kg/s]
analysis
Fluids$ = 'steamiapws'
pump I
P1 = P 8
x1 = 0
h1 = h Fluids$ , P = P1 , x = x1
v1 = v Fluids$ , P = P1 , x = x1
P2 = P 7
wpI,in = v1 P2 P1
h2 = h1 + wpI,in
x3 = 0
P3 = P 7
h3 = h Fluids$ , P = P3 , x = x3
mixing chamber
m2 = 3 / 4 m
m3 = 1 / 4 m
m4 = m
m4 h 4 = m 2 h 2 + m 3 h 3
x4 = 0
v4 = v Fluids$ , h = h4 , x = x4
pump II
P4 = P 7
P5 = P 6
File:(Untitled) 18/10/2016 16:51:03 Page 2
EES Ver. 10.118: #3624: For use only by students and faculty in Mechanical Engineering, Dublin Institute of
Technology
wpII,in = v4 P5 P4
h5 = h4 + wpII,in
turbine
h6 = h Fluids$ , P = P6 , T = T6
s6 = s Fluids$ , P = P6 , T = T6
s7 = s6
h7 = h Fluids$ , P = P7 , s = s7
s8 = s6
h8 = h Fluids$ , P = P8 , s = s8
x8 = x Fluids$ , P = P8 , s = s8
cycle
m6 = m
m8 = 3 / 4 m
WT,out = m6 h6 h7 + m8 h7 h8
m1 = 3 / 4 m
WP,in = m1 wpI,in + m4 wpII,in
Wnet = WT,out WP,in
Qprocess = m7 h7 h3
m5 = m
Qin = m5 h6 h5
u =
Wnet + Qprocess
Qin
SOLUTION
Unit Settings: SI C kPa kJ mass deg
u = 0.5243 Fluids$ = 'steam_iapws'
m = 30 [kg/s] Qin = 92788 [kW]
Qprocess = 15776 [kW] Wnet = 32871 [kW]
WP,in = 210.3 [kW] WT,out = 33081 [kW]

17
wpII,in = 6.563 [kJ/kg] wpI,in = 0.5961 [kJ/kg]
No unit problems were detected.
File:(Untitled) 18/10/2016 16:51:04 Page 3
EES Ver. 10.118: #3624: For use only by students and faculty in Mechanical Engineering, Dublin Institute of
Technology
Arrays Table: Main
hi mi Pi Ti si vi
[kJ/kg] {[]} [kg/s] {[]} [kPa] {[]} [C] {[]} [kJ/kgK] {[]} [m3/kg] {[]}

1 191.8 {0} 22.5 {0} 10 {0} 0.00101 {0}

2 192.4 {0} 22.5 {0} 600 {0}
3 670.4 {0} 7.5 {0} 600 {0}
4 311.9 {0} 30 {0} 600 {0} 0.001026 {0}
5 318.5 {0} 30 {0} 7000 {0}
6 3411 {0} 30 {0} 7000 {0} 500 {0} 6.8 {0}
7 2774 {0} 7.5 {0} 600 {0} 6.8 {0}
8 2154 {0} 22.5 {0} 10 {0} 6.8 {0}
Arrays Table: Main
xi

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

18

Dublin Institute of Technology

School of Mechanical and Design Engineering

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

in
Mechanical Engineering

15. Determining the efficiency of a fuel cell

Lecturer: Dr. Anthony Reynolds

Dublin Institute of Technology

Bolton Street, Dublin 1.

19

16. Declaration
I hereby certify that the material, which is submitted in this assignment, other than
what is appropriately referenced, is entirely my own work and has not been submitted for any
academic assessment other than as part fulfilment of the assessment procedures for the
programme Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Mechanical Engineering (DT/022).

I authorise Dublin Institute of Technology to lend out single copies as requested.

Signed: Niall OHalloran

Date: 15th/11th/2016

20

17. Abstract
The abstract should be informative, and should be written in about five to ten
sentences. It should cover all phases of the investigation. It must include the following;

An introductory statement about the subject matter

Briefly describe what was done

Present some selected results (numerical values, if possible)

If possible, present some percentage errors in experimental results in comparison with

theoretical values

Note: While writing the abstract, it should be kept in mind that you should not refer to
any graph or table.

21

18.

Introduction

This lab set out to determine the efficiency of a fuel cell. The fuel cell that was used during
this lab was the P.A Hilton RE510 Education fuel cell. The overview of the experiment
involved taking readings for the fuel cell and using the data that was collected to determine
some the operating characters of the fuel cell. The main aim was to determine the efficiency
of the fuel cell. This is shown in the results section of this report.

22

19. Aims and Objectives

The main aim and objective of this lab was to determine the efficiency of the P.A
Hilton RE510 Education fuel cell.

23

20. Theoretical Background

A fuel cell is a device that used hydrogen as a fuel to produce electricity. Fuel cells
produce electrons, protons, heat and water. This means that fuel cell is carbon natural in
energy production as long as the hydrogen production does not hold a carbon foot print.
Fuel cells are based on the simple combustion reaction [1]
2 H 2 +O2 2 H 2 O
The electrons that are produced through a fuel cell are what is used to produce
electricity. Problems arise in fuel cells because of the small area of contact between the
electrolyte and the electrode and the fuel. There is also a problem of the high resistance
through the electrolyte as a result of the distance between the electrodes. Fuel cells are
designed to reduce these problems but they are still promenade [1].
Fuel cells have two electrodes the anode and the cathode these are situated between an
electrolyte. Hydrogen is supplied to the anode electrode. This hydrogen is then split through a
chemical reaction into an electron and a proton. The proton passes through the electrolyte to
the cathode while the electron passes through a circuit towards the cathode. It is through this
external circuit that the electricity is harnessed. Once the proton and the electron reach the
cathode they are combined with oxygen to produce oxygen. Figure 3 shows a image of a basic
fuel cell in operation [1].

Figure 3, basic fuel cell in operation [1]

The fuel cell that was used in this lab consists of 18 Ballard cells connected in series
with an effective area of 50cm2. This system is an interpreted auxiliary subsystem including a
bank of resistors which act as a load. The hydrogen that is supplied to the system with an
additional gas regulator, oxidant air circulation system, air cooling supply and an electronic
control and safety system which can detect if there is leak of hydrogen. Dry hydrogen which
is 99.95% pure is supplied at 1-2Bar and is circulated using an electronic fan. The heat that
the fuel cell generates is dissipated using an air cooling system. The system has a data
collection system which gives the voltage temperature and current readings.
The hydrogen that is supplied to the fuel is recorded in Standard Litres per Minute
(SLM). This is then converted to moles per second with the observation that one mole of any
gas at STP occupies 0.0224m3 and that SLM is equivalent to 1.667x10-5m3/s

24
1.667 x 105 m3 . s1
(
)
H =V oH SLM x
mol1
3
1
0.0224 (m . mol )
2

Likewise, the Enthalpies of formation for hydrogen may be referred to the new flow
rate:
h f H 0 ( kj . mol1 )

hf H 0=

If the temperature is not given at STP then the molar volume at the given temperature
will need to be determined. This is shown below by
P.V

T STP
T
V= x
P

25

21. Equipment and Procedure

21.1.1. Experiment Equipment
The equipment that was used in this lab was the PA Hilton RE 510 Educational PEM
fuel cell.
21.1.2. Experiment Procedure
The system was operated and calibrated by the lecture.
The start-up sequence was triggered by clicking the start button on the control panel
window on the computer software. A few seconds later a load state is activated at a default
value and a number of hydrogen purges are performed by the system. This removes any water
in the system and provides sufficient hydrogen for the initial reaction. The oxidant/ cooling
fan is ramped up to supply enough air for heat management and for oxidation processes on the
cathode side of the fuel cell.

26

22. Experimental Results

This section will give the results that were recorded during the experimental
procedure. The results can be found in Table 3.
Table 3, Experimental results.

Item
Stack

voltage/

current/

Symbol
V/I/W

Value
12.5 /12 /150

power
Air inlet temperature
Air exit temperature
Volume
flowrate

of

T
T
V oH

anemometer

Vair

4.4

reading
Temperature of the fuel

T stack

28.7

hydrogen
Air

cell stack

flow

23.8
28.5
1.5

27

23. Calculations
This section will go through the calculations that were performed on the results that
were gathered in the experimental section of the report.
The first calculation that was preformed was the hydrogen flow rate. The flow rate
was converted to mols/second
5

1.667 x 10 m . s
H =V oH ( SLM ) x
mo
3
1
0.0224 (m . mol )
2

This gave:
H =1.1162 x 103 mols/ s
2

The hydrogen flow rate for a given power out pout can be found by:

H =
2

n cellsI
2F

N= number of cells
I = current
Faraday's constant = 96,485.3415 C/mole of electrons
2 is the valence of the molecule

H =1.119 x 103 mols /s

2

The next step is to calculate the air flow rate. The air flow can be found form the
air speed, the effective area and the molar volume at the inlet temperature. The first
equation to use is to find the molar volume at the given temperature.
P.V

T STP
T
Vo n= x
P

Vo n=0.0243m

With this the air flow rate can be found by using the formula:

28
Vo n

v
air = air

air =0.3799

29

The next calculation is the fuel stoichiometry this is found using the next two formula
o 2=0.5 H

air =

o2
0.21

o 2=5.595 X 104

air =0.00266

mols
s

mols
s

With the information that has been calculated it is nw possible to find the fuel cells
efficiency. There are some outside values that are required to find this efficiency
Higher heating value = 120.2 MJ/kg
Lower heating value v= 2.016 MJ/kg
Efficiency:
Power [watts]
mols
MJ
hydrogen flow rate
Higher heating value
s
kg

[ ]

[ ]

Efficiency is a unit less number. From examining the equation there needs to be Watts
or Joules per second on the bottom as well.
120

MJ
J
=120,000
kg
g

The hydrogen flow rate can be converted from mols/s into grams per second by
multiplying it by the molar mass of hydrogen. In this calculation the value was rounded to 2.
1.119 X 103

[ ]

[]

mols
g
2=0.002238
s
s

The units are now examined;

J
s

J
s
=
g
J
J
s
s
g
The efficiency was then found to be:
Lower heating value = 55.8%
Higher heating value = 47.14%

30

31

24. Discussion of Results

The first note in the results that were calculated was the difference between calculating
the hydrogen flow rate by using the SLM value and using the power method.

SLM = 1.1162x10-3 mols/s

Power = 1.119x10-3 mols/s

It would be expected the flow rate calculated by using the SLM values would be
higher than the flow rate calculated by using the Power value because the SLM value is the
amount of hydrogen that is flowing into the system. While the power method calculates the
amount of hydrogen that is used by the system. If the amount of hydrogen that flows in and
the amount that is used are equal the values would be equal. This is an ideal case and not true
in the real world. In none ideal systems some of the hydrogen would pass through unused and
out the exhaust. This means the SLM or ideal case should be a higher value then the power or
real case.
This does not correlate with the results that were found in the experimentation. Once
expiation for this is the resolution of the measurement devices. The difference between the 2
numbers is small. If the instrumentation that is used to measure the power or flow rate is
unable to real at a high resolution, then the difference can be understood as inaccuracy in
measurement.
The efficiency of the machine is around 47%. This is a high efficiency for an
electricity generator. Or a power cell. Some of the energy generated by the fuel cell has been
lost through heat and the system. This is one of the reasons for a drop in efficiency. Another
reason for an efficiency drop is that as stated before not all the hydrogen is used up in the
processes. During operation some of the hydrogen passes through the cell unused and out the
exhaust. this unused hydrogen causes an efficiency drop

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25. Conclusions
25.1.1. Conclusion
The first conclusion from this lab is that the efficiency that was calculated form the
fuel cell collates to the expected efficiency of a fuel cell. The maximum operating efficiency
of a fuel cell is around 83%. this is a theoretical number and is lower in standard practice. The
efficiency that was found for the fuel cell used in the lab was 55.8%. this was also confirmed
by the lecture running the lab to be an accurate value.
It can also be seen that there is a difference in weather the hydrogen flow rate is found
using the SLM method or the power method. Despite this the difference is small and can be
discounted in the overall calculations of a fuel cell.

33

Bibliography
[1]

C. Rayment and S. Dherwin, Introduction to fuel cell technology,

University of Notre Dame, IN, 2003.