OPTIMIZATION OF COMPRESSION MOULDING PARAMETERS FOR MULTI FILLER POLYMER COMPOSITE USING TAGUCHI METHOD
Abstract
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) performance depends on the properties of bipolar plates (BP). In order to produce the best performance of BP, compression moulding parameters need to be optimized. This study determined the compression moulding parameters of Graphite (G) / Carbon Black (CB) / Carbon Fiber (CF) / Polypropylene (PP) composites using Taguchi method (TM) in order to optimize the properties of BP plate. L9 Orthogonal Array with four factors and three levels was chosen as a design of experiment for G/CB/CF/PP composition with a weight percentage of 50/25/5/20. The factors selected for this study were heating temperature, load, preheating pressing time and pressing time. The electrical conductivity value of each sample was analyzed by signal to noise ratio using TM with the larger-the-better condition in order to determine the optimum parameters. Confirmation experiment was conducted to validate the optimum parameters obtained from the TM. The electrical conductivity result of G/CB/CF/PP composites for confirmation experiment was 393.49 S/cm and it was higher than nine trials and the TM predicted value. Hence, the optimum parameters of compression moulding can be obtained using TM to improve the electrical conductivity of G/CB/CF/PP composites. TM is an effective way to get the optimal moulding parameters for G/CB/CF/PP composites and is very useful to fabricate bipolar plate for PEMFC.
Downloads
References
H. Suherman, A. B. Sulong, and J. Sahari, “Effect of the compression molding parameters on the in-plane and through-plane conductivity of carbon nanotubes/graphite/epoxy nanocomposites as bipolar plate material for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell,” Ceram. Int., vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 1277–1284, Mar. 2013.
H. Suherman, J. Sahari, and A. B. Sulong, “Effect of small-sized conductive filler on the properties of an epoxy composite for a bipolar plate in a PEMFC,” Ceram. Int., vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 7159–7166, Aug. 2013.
H. Suherman and U. Bung, “Optimization of Moulding Parameters on the Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Black / Graphite / Epoxy Composite for Bipolar Plateusing the Taguchi Method,” no. January, 2016.
M. Z. Selamat, J. Sahari, A. Muchtar, and N. Muhamad, “Simultaneous optimization for multiple responses on the compression moulding parameters of composite graphite - Polypropylene using taguchi method,” Key Eng. Mater., vol. 471–472, pp. 361–366, 2011.
J. W. Klett and J. J. Henry, “Carbon Composite Bipolar Plates,” Fuel Cell, pp. 1–4, 2008.
J. H. Hirschenhofer, D. B. Stauffer, R. R. Engleman, and M. G. Klett, FUEL Fuel Cell Handbook FUEL, Forth edit. 1998.
J. O. Jensen, “Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells,” Mater. Sci., pp. 1–10, 2008.
I. EG&G Technical Services, “Fuel Cell Handbook,” 2004.
T. M. Besmann, J. J. Henry, and J. W. Klett, “Carbon Composite Bipolar Plate for PEM Fuel Cells,” 2002.
A. Kasgoz, D. Akın, and A. Durmus, “Rheological and electrical properties of carbon black and carbon fiber filled cyclic olefin copolymer composites,” Compos. Part B Eng., vol. 62, pp. 113–120, Jun. 2014.
A. Bairan, M. Z. Selamat, S. N. Sahadan, S. D. Malingam, and N. Mohamad, “Effect of Carbon Nanotubes Loading in Multifiller Polymer Composite as Bipolar Plate for PEM Fuel Cell,” Procedia Chem., vol. 19, pp. 91–97, 2016.
M. Z. Selamat, J. Sahari, N. Muhamad, and A. Muchtar, “The effects of thickness reduction and particle sizes on the properties graphite - Polypropylene composite,” Int. J. Mech. Mater. Eng., vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 194–200, 2011.
R. Dweiri and J. Sahari, “Electrical properties of carbon-based polypropylene composites for bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC),” J. Power Sources, vol. 171, no. 2, pp. 424–432, Sep. 2007.
J. H. Lee, Y. K. Jang, C. E. Hong, N. H. Kim, P. Li, and H. K. Lee, “Effect of carbon fillers on properties of polymer composite bipolar plates of fuel cells,” J. Power Sources, vol. 193, no. 2, pp. 523–529, Sep. 2009.
E. Planes, L. Flandin, and N. Alberola, “Polymer Composites Bipolar Plates for PEMFCs,” Energy Procedia, vol. 20, pp. 311–323, 2012.
H. N. Yu, I. U. Hwang, S. S. Kim, and D. G. Lee, “Integrated carbon composite bipolar plate for polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cells,” J. Power Sources, vol. 189, no. 2, pp. 929–934, 2009.
A. Kasgoz, D. Akın, A. İ. Ayten, and A. Durmus, “Effect of different types of carbon fillers on mechanical and rheological properties of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) composites,” Compos. Part B Eng., vol. 66, pp. 126–135, Nov. 2014.
D. Akın, A. Kasgoz, and A. Durmus, “Quantifying microstructure, electrical and mechanical properties of carbon fiber and expanded graphite filled cyclic olefin copolymer composites,” Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf., vol. 60, pp. 44–51, May 2014.
H. Suherman and U. Bung, “Optimization of Moulding Parameters on the Electrical Conductivity of Carbon Black / Graphite / Epoxy Composite for Bipolar Plateusing the Taguchi Method,” no. September 2016, 2015.
Y. Wang and D. O. Northwood, “Optimization of the polypyrrole-coating parameters for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates using the Taguchi method,” J. Power Sources, vol. 185, no. 1, pp. 226–232, 2008.
Y. Sadelil, J. W. Soedarsono, B. Prihandoko, and S. Harjanto, “The Effects of Gompression Pressure Applied on the Manufacture of Carbon Composite Bipolar Plate for PEMFC by Utilizing Graphite Waste Products,” Adv. Mater. Res., vol. 42, pp. 6–66, 2012.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors transfer copyright to the publisher as part of a journal publishing agreement with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after the manuscript is accepted, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).