ELECTROLYZE NATURAL GAS INTO COMPONENTS AND RESUSE TO CREATE POWER, HEAT AND WATER Methane is both a pollutant and energy resource in the global energy system. As a fossil fuel, methane will ultimately be eliminated from use due to the fundamental contradiction posed by dependence on a non-renewable energy source. However, until renewables penetration and hydrogen utilization have been developed to substitute for fossil fuels, methane will continue to be a vehicle for power generation in global systems. The polluting nature of using methane for power generation and as a byproduct of oil production can be mitigated by electrolytic processes that can reduce the gas into constituents hydrogen and carbon which can be used separately to positive effect. In this project, we focused on a high-temperature electrolytic cell, solid oxide cell (SOC) for high efficiency, fuel flexibility, and long-term reliability. Student team designed a reversible solid oxide cell system that cracks the methane molecule into hydrogen and carbon in the electrolysis mode and then converts the hydrogen into power, heat, and high-quality water in the fuel cell mode. Carbonis captured in the system for reuse elsewhere. Students got opportunity to learn chemical process simulation and techno-economic analysis of the system.
Lithium-Ion Battery Pack Design The Li-ion battery pack (48V9AH) is the major and most expensive component of electric automobiles. With different factors in designing the battery packs, such as size, weight, capacity, voltage and current, having the best battery pack is usually a tradeoff between demand and cost. In this project, a battery pack was designed, packaged, wired, and tested on a bike.
Design of Thermal Management for Lithium Ion Battery Li-ion batteries are excellent electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, with superior energy and power density, efficiency, and low cost. However, their performance is highly sensitive to temperature. The temperature profiles in the batteries are nonuniform due to the multilayer stacking structure associated with nonlinear heat generation/consumption during discharging and charging processes. In this project, the students will design experiments (use thermal couples) to measure the surface temperature of one Li-ion cylindrical cell and integrate the data into a finite element model of a single cell to predict its core temperature. For industry standards, Li-ion batteries operating temperature should be lower than 50oC, and the temperature difference across the cell should be less than 5oC. Furthermore, the parameters determined in the single cell model will be expanded to simulate a Li-ion battery pack.