Horizon Fitness FCJJ-24 User Manual

Fuel cell software adaptor

Hide thumbs

Table Of Contents

Table of Contents

Quick Links

Download this manual

Horizon Fuel Cell Software Adaptor

User Manual

FCJJ-24

Table of Contents

Summary of Contents for Horizon Fitness FCJJ-24

Page 1 Horizon Fuel Cell Software Adaptor User Manual FCJJ-24...
Page 2: Table Of Contents
Contents Introduction Intended Use General Safety Precautions Related Issues Hardware Installation Software Installation Learning to Use the Graphic Software Data Acquisition Board Power Sources and Loads Measuring Resistance Basic Knowledge of Wind Power Technology The Differences between a 3-Phase Motor Generator and a DC Motor Generator The Experiments Fault Diagnostics...
Page 3: Introduction
Introduction Diminishing resources, more severe environmental impacts and the ever- increasing demand for energy force us to re-evaluate the structure of our energy supply system. Automobile and oil companies increasingly invest in hydrogen technology because it offers solutions to some of these concerns. This fascinating technology combines a sound energy supply with minimal impact on our natural resources.
Page 4: Intended Use
Intended Use • Measurements can be carried out and evaluated on fuel cells in the power range up to 5 watts with the Fuel Cell Software Adaptor’s external Data Acquisition Card and the associated software. • The hardware and software were developed exclusively for educational teaching and demonstration purposes.
Page 5: Related Issues
Related Issues Reverse Engineering You are not entitled to reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the software product in whole or in part. Errors and Omissions Horizon has made every effort to supply the software and hardware without errors; however, we are not responsible for any unintentional errors or omissions in the design, construction or operation of the product.
Page 6: Hardware Installation
Other Required Materials Not Supplied • Windows PC – MACs must have Parallels “Desktop 3.0 for Mac” • Fuel cell • Solar panel • Table fan for wind turbine • Small DC motor and propeller • Battery Holder (two AA batteries not included) •...
Page 7: Learning To Use The Graphic Software
Learning to Use the Graphic Software The PC graphic software screen is divided into several regions that control how electrical quantities such as voltage, current, power and resistance readings are displayed. The large grid area continuously displays four plotted lines in four colors. The colors match the voltage, current, power and resistance values below the vertical meters.
Page 8 Before any plots can occur, the graphic software must connect with the attached circuit board that is transmitting data. To do so, first select the correct Comm port number then click on the Connect icon. You can type over the number displayed if it is not correct.
Page 9 Click this icon to capture the plot image on the screen. These images are automatically saved to a file with a unique name and can be extracted and included in reports or printed out. To find the path to these images go to Program Files Data on your hard disk.
Page 10: Data Acquisition Board
8. Data Acquisition Board The Data Acquisition Board is the electronic interface between devices such as a fuel cell, solar panel and wind turbine. When connected to a computer via a USB cable, it measures and computes voltage, current, resistance and power then transmits these electrical quantities 3 times a second to the computer.
Page 11 Flashing LEDs The two flashing LEDs represent the relative strength of the voltage and current being measured. The green LED indicates voltage and the blue LED indicates current - - the brighter the LEDs, the greater the relative voltage and current being measured (and visa versa). To enhance the understanding between the circuit board and the computer display software, these are the same colors used on the computer display software to display voltage and current.
Page 12: Power Sources And Loads
Power Sources and Loads The experiments use the following power sources and loads. Power Sources • Battery • Solar Panel • Wind Turbine • Fuel Cell Loads • Resistors • Capacitor • Motor – Propeller • Fuel Cell (a fuel cell can be both a power source and a load) What is a Power Source? For these experiments a power source is a device that produces both electrical voltage and current (in effect, power).
Page 13 What is a Resistor? A resistor is an electrical device (usually composed of a passive material like carbon) that limits the flow of current and voltage from a power source. Resistors are important components in any electrical circuit, since other components that are connected to the resistors depend on the limited current and voltage they produce to operate correctly.
Page 14 What is a Battery? A battery stores chemical energy, which can be converted into electrical energy. The physical part and electrical symbol for a battery are shown below: Primary batteries are ready to produce current as soon as they are manufactured. Primary batteries are generally used in flashlights and must be replaced when they go “dead”.
Page 15 What is a Motor? There are many types of electrical motors, but the one used in the experiments is a small DC motor that attaches to a propeller. Normally constructed with spinning magnets (rotor) that surround a coil of wires (stator), a motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy by taking in electrical power and then spinning a shaft using magnetic energy.
Page 16: Measuring Resistance
Measuring Resistance When measuring resistance both the external load resistor as well as the 1 ohm sense resistor built into the circuit board must be taken into consideration. Example 1: The illustration below shows a 10 ohm load resistor placed across one set of the OUTPUT terminals.
Page 17 Example 2: The illustration below shows two 10 ohm load resistors, in parallel, placed across both sets of the OUTPUT terminals. The total resistance is really 6 ohms (5 ohm “parallel” load resistance + 1 ohm sense resistance). While the fuel cell is shown as the power source, a battery, solar panel or wind turbine can also be substituted.
Page 18: Basic Knowledge Of Wind Power Technology
Basic Knowledge of Wind Power Technology A wind turbine is a device that uses rotor blades connected by a mechanical shaft to an electrical alternator to generate electricity. When the wind blows across the rotor blades, the propeller shaft rotates the alternator and the alternator makes electricity (much the same when your car’s engine spins the alternator to charge the car’s battery).
Page 19: The Differences Between A 3-Phase Motor Generator And A Dc Motor Generator
The Differences between a 3-Phase Motor Generator and a DC Motor Generator The wind turbine used in the following experiments uses a 3-phase motor generator, also called an alternator that is much more efficient at producing electrical power as compared with a conventional DC motor.
Page 20 The important concept to realize is that since the 3 coils are spaced equally apart, each of them reaches its instantaneous peak at different times. When the individual phases are combined by rectifiers, the voltage and, thus the power never goes to zero like in a DC motor. The 6 half cycles overlap each other at every 1/6 of a rotation (every 60 degrees).
Page 21: The Experiments
The Experiments The following experiments demonstrate how various power sources, like a battery, solar panel and wind turbine can electrolyze water using a fuel cell. Multiple loads like resistors, capacitors and a small DC motor are used to provide loads. The fuel cell acts as a both a power source and a load in the experiments.
Page 22 Fuel Cell Assembly The following experiments assume that the user is familiar with setting up the fuel cell assembly and hydrating the fuel cell. Oxygen Tube Fuel Cell Hydrogen Baloon Near Real Time Measurements The electrical data displayed as graphic plots and numbers on the computer are said to be in “real time”;...
Page 23 The Proper Way to Hookup Components You are provided with leads that have banana plugs on one end and alligator clips on the other end. The banana ends plug into the Data Acquisition Card while the clip leads attach to small components like resistors and capacitors.
Page 24 Understanding Resistor Color Codes The following experiments use three resistors; however, since the value of the resistor is not stamped on the device, another method is used to identify its value. This method is called “color coding” and refers to the round bands that surround the resistor’s cylindrical surface.
Page 25 There are other bands after these; however, they should be ignored. They are generally there to indicate the accuracy of the resistor (1%, 5%, 10%, etc.). The supplied resistors are within 5% of their rated value.
Page 26 Experiment #1 – Purging the Fuel Cell to Optimize Its Performance Purpose: This experiment is done to ensure that the fuel cell is purged of all gasses except pure hydrogen. By performing this experiment first, it will allow the fuel cell to deliver maximum power for the remaining experiments.
Page 27 4. On the computer display, click on the Connect button at the lower-left on the screen and verify the red plot line is slowly moving across the bottom of the grid display. 5. Adjust the voltage scale to 7.5 volts. Note: Please read through this procedure first before performing the experiment, as the process goes fast and requires prior knowledge of what is about to happen.
Page 28 Figure 1.3 – Setup to Purge the Fuel Cell of All Gasses 6. Now add the 1 ohm resistor across the Output terminals and witness a plot similar to the one below in Figure 1.4. Allow the voltage to decrease to zero thus purging all the hydrogen and other gasses from the balloon.
Page 29 7. Next, disconnect the connecting tube to release a little hydrogen into the air and verify a similar plot as shown below in Figure 1.5. Notice that the resistance reading is 2.4 ohms – not 1 ohm as you might expect. More about this in the Analysis section below. Figure 1.5 –...
Page 30 The experiment used a 1 ohm resistor to act as a load in order to quickly discharge the hydrogen from the fuel cell’s balloon. But the reading indicated 2.4 ohms. So where did the extra resistance come from? Recall that there is another 1 ohm sense resistor in the circuit that adds to the total resistance. So the 1 ohm load added to the 1 ohm sense resistor is 2 ohms.
Page 31 Experiment #2 - Electrolysis Using a Battery Purpose: This first experiment in electrolysis uses the 3 volt battery as the power source and the fuel cell as the load in order to quickly split water into hydrogen and oxygen and to store the hydrogen for our first load experiment (Experiment #3).
Page 32 Procedure: 1. Set the battery ON-OFF switch to ON. 2. Verify that a plot similar to the one below is beginning to develop. 3. Set the battery ON-OFF switch to OFF when the hydrogen balloon is filled. Figure 2.2 – Plot #1 Analysis: In Figure 2.2 as the electrolysis process begins, the battery voltage (green line) starts at 0 volts then rises quickly to about 2.00 volts.
Page 33 Experiment #3 – Understanding Ohm’s Law Purpose: This experiment demonstrates one of the basic laws of electronics - the relationship of voltage, current and resistance called Ohm’s Law. It uses the hydrogen that was created in Experiment #2, so if you are not following Experiment #3 directly from Experiment #2, please repeat Experiment #2 to create the hydrogen for this experiment.
Page 34 4. On the computer display, click on the Connect button at the lower-left on the screen and verify the red plot line is slowly moving across the bottom of the grid display. 5. Adjust the voltage scale to 1.88 volts. Note: Please read through this procedure first before performing the experiment, as the process go fast and requires prior knowledge of what is about to happen.
Page 35 2. Next, attach a second 10 ohm resistor across the other set of OUTPUT terminals (red and black) and verify a similar plot as shown below. Notice that the resistance reading is 5.7 ohms. This is consistent with the two 10 ohm resistors in parallel along with the 1 ohm sense resistor in series with them.
Page 36 1 ohm sense resistor 10 ohm 10 ohm = 6 ohms total Load Load resistor resistor R1 x R2 5 ohms parallel R1 + R2 Because the 1 ohm sense resistor on the circuit board is in series with the parallel resistors, the resultant resistance should be 6.00 ohms.
Page 37 Experiment #4 – Electrolysis with a Solar Panel Purpose: This experiment uses the solar panel to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen using the fuel cell. Plus, it demonstrates the minimum voltage required to achieve electrolyzation. Equipment: Fuel cell assembly Solar panel Data Acquisition Card USB cable...
Page 38 5. On the computer display, click on the Connect button at the lower-left on the screen and verify that a red plot line is slowly moving across the bottom of the grid display. 6. Adjust the voltage (vertical) scale to 1.88 volts. Procedure: Note: Please read through this procedure first before performing the experiment, as the elements of the process go fast and require prior knowledge of what is about to happen.
Page 39 3. Next, rotate the solar panel facing down again until the voltage drops below 1.5 volts and observe that the current and power go back to zero as shown in the plot below. Figure 4.3 – Halting the Electrolysis Process 4.
Page 40 Analysis: Before going on to explain the electrolysis process, note that the solar panel is delivering nearly half a watt (0.470) into the fuel cell load. This is less than the nearly three-quarters of a watt delivered with the battery in Experiment #1. The reason for this decrease is due to the solar panel’s inability to produce the same amount of power as compared with the battery.
Page 41 Experiment #5 – Powering a Motor Load Purpose: This experiment follows Experiment #4 in order to use the stored hydrogen that was generated by electrolysis. A motor-propeller is used to demonstrate the fuel cell’s ability to power such a device, albeit for a short amount of time.
Page 42 6. Adjust the voltage (vertical) scale to 1.88 volts. 7． Adjust the time (horizontal) scale to about 30 or 40 seconds. Procedure: Note: Please read through this procedure first before performing the experiment, as the elements of the process go fast and require prior knowledge of what is about to happen. 1.
Page 43 2. Next, attach the red wire lead from the motor and verify a plot similar to the one below. Notice the motor spins for only a few seconds and the hydrogen quickly flows out of the hydrogen balloon. Figure 5.3 – Plot with Motor Load 3.
Page 44 Analysis: The motor presents a relatively heavy load to the fuel cell. This can be seen by observing the resistance readings below the meter of between 1.60 and 1.70 ohms. This is over 6 times as much as the 10 ohm load in Experiment #1, which accounts for the rapid decrease in voltage and, correspondingly, current and power.
Page 45 Experiment #6 – Electrolysis Using a Wind Turbine Purpose: This experiment uses a unique wind turbine called the WindCharge as the power source to electrolyze water. This wind turbine is unique in that it is really a miniature model of the type of wind turbines that dot our landscape making clean, non-polluting energy.
Page 46 1. Make sure that the fuel cell is fully hydrated. 2. Connect the USB cable between the circuit board and the computer and verify that the green and blue LEDs on the circuit board are flashing. 3. Make sure the graphic software is running on the computer. 4.
Page 47 2. Very soon the voltage will stabilize (level off) as shown below: Figure 6.3 – Electrolysis voltage leveling off 3. Next, reduce the vertical voltage scale to 0.23. Figure 6.4 – Examining current and power in more detail...
Page 48 4. In the expanded view above, notice the change in current and power as the voltage climbs to its stabilized level of 1.440 volts. In the very beginning of the plot (in the circle) the current plot line (blue line) indicates an immediate rush of current from the wind turbine into the fuel cell;...
Page 49 remain at higher levels for a longer time, similar to the experiments with the battery and solar panel. REMEMBER – the wind turbine generates its power based solely on the amount of air that reaches its blades. The faster the airflow, the faster the blades turn with more power generated. Therefore, use a larger, more powerful table fan to produce more power out of the wind turbine More about Wind Turbines: The important parameters surrounding a wind turbine’s power generation ability are …...
Page 50 Experiment #7 – Powering a Capacitor Load Purpose: This last experiment uses the WindCharge wind turbine to show how another component, called a capacitor, can both smooth out the voltage produced by the wind turbine. Equipment: WindCharge Wind turbine Table fan Capacitor Data Acquisition Card USB cable...
Page 51 Note: Please read through this procedure first before performing the experiment, as the elements of the process go fast and require prior knowledge of what is about to happen. Procedure: 1. Place the table fan directly in front of the wind turbine then switch it on to its highest (fastest) setting.
Page 52 If the wind turbine output were to be measured with an oscilloscope (a professional graphic display device), the actual voltage waveform would look like that below: Figure 7.3 – Oscilloscope plot of wind turbine DC voltage without a capacitor 2. In order to smooth out these voltage ripples, a capacitor will be added to the circuit as in the setup below.
Page 53 3. With the capacitor attached to the OUTPUT terminals, continue to keep the wind turbine blades spinning and the following plot should be displayed. Notice that the voltage has increased and that it is somewhat smoother. Depending on the value of your capacitor, your results may vary.
Page 54 If the wind turbine output were now to be measured with an oscilloscope the waveform would look much different. Notice the plot line is smooth and regular with no ripples – and that it is centered at the average output of the rippled waves in the previous view. This is due to the voltage smoothing effect of the capacitor.
Page 55 Even More about Wind Turbines A wind turbine is a mechanical device and, as such, it takes time for the rotor to rotate from 0 rpm to whatever speed. And with a load is connected, the time to reach steady speed will be even longer.
Page 56 Experiment #8 – Create electricity from ethanol and water Purpose: This experiment demonstrates the production of electricity of the Horizon Bio-energy kit. The direct ethanol fuel cell produces electricity while ethanol reacts at the anode side of the fuel cell. Hydrogen protons permeate from the ethanol solution through the DEFC’s membrane, liberating electrons that are captured in an external circuit.
Page 57 4. On the computer display, click on the Connect button at the lower-left on the screen and verify the red plot line is slowly moving across the bottom of the grid display. 5. Adjust the voltage scale so you can see the data clearly. Note: Please read through this procedure first before performing the experiment, as the process go fast and requires prior knowledge of what is about to happen.
Page 58 Analysis: On the cathode side, the catalytic reaction of hydrogen with oxygen from the ambient air forms water as a result. Direct-ethanol fuel cells or DEFCs are a subcategory of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells where, the ethanol fuel is not first reformed into pure hydrogen, but fed directly to the fuel cell’s membrane.
Page 59 Experiment #9 – Exploring the effects of temperature Purpose: This experiment demonstrates the relationship between temperature and the performance of the ethanol fuel cell. At higher temperatures, atoms tend to move faster and are more likely to interact with the catalysts located on the surface of the membrane. With more interactions, the reaction accelerates and more electricity is produced, which is demonstrated by the speed of the fan motor increasing.
Page 60 2. Connect the USB cable between the circuit board and the computer and verify that the green and blue LEDs on the circuit board are flashing. 3. Make sure the graphic software is running on the computer. 4. On the computer display, click on the Connect button at the lower-left on the screen and verify the red plot line is slowly moving across the bottom of the grid display.
Page 61 2. Next, use a hair drier to create a flow of hot air directed towards the back of the fuel cell. After 30 seconds you should observe the data below and the motor and fan will be operating at a faster speed. Figure 9.3 –...
Page 62 Analysis: At higher temperatures, atoms tend to move faster and are more likely to interact with the catalysts located on the surface of the membrane. With more interactions, the reaction accelerates and more electricity can be produced, which is demonstrated by the speed of the fan motor increasing.
Page 63: Fault Diagnostics
Fault Diagnostics If the software does not respond after starting or if it should produce unexpected results, please check the following possible causes: Connecting to the Data Acquisition Card To find the correct Comm Port, do one or the other of these steps… Click directly on the “arrow”...
Page 64: Technical Data
Technical Data Product Item No. FCJJ-24 Data Acquisition Card • Dimensions 2.5” x 2.5” • USB Interface • Electrical Limits The following measurement ranges are possible: • Voltage measuring range: 0 volts to 5 volts • Current measuring range: 0 amps to 1 amp •...