Development of an electrochemical comressor driven small size heat pump

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25630443
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Energy engineering
• Research Institution: Shibaura Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Kotaro 芝浦工業大学, 工学部, 教授 (60278215)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): FUJII TAKAHIRO 産業技術総合研究所, エネルギー技術部門, 研究員 (60357902)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 電気化学ヒートポンプ / 電気化学圧縮器 / ケミカルヒートポンプ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An electrochemical heat pump using two working fluids is proposed in this study. One working fluid is electrochemically compressed by an electrolyte membrane and another working fluid plays a role of heat exchange medium of evaporation and condensation processes in the cycle. An electrochemical compressor with proton exchange membrane was manufactured and 1 MPa pressure difference of H2 gas was achieved. The efficiency defined by compression work to electrical power input was 15% and the calculated total efficiency including the pressure transmitting mechanism was 7%. The obtained total efficiency was lower than that of mechanical compression systems. For the purpose of performance improvement, the cell impedance losses and the pressure transmission losses were analyzed in detail and the effective improvement methods were proposed.

Free Research Field

エネルギー変換工学