Dr. Brant A. Peppley (FCRC Director)
Professor and Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells
Department of Chemical Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests
o Fuel Processing - methanol, gasoline, diesel reforming
o Reliability and Durability of PEMFCs
o Mathematical Modeling and Optimization of PEMFC Power

Website:

http://chemeng.queensu.ca/people/faculty/peppley/

www.sofccanada.com

Dr. Kunal Karan (FCRC Associate Director)
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests
o Engineered Electrodes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell
o Development and Performance Characterization of SOFC Composite Cathodes.
o Nano-engineered, structured electrodes for PEMFCs
o Mathematical Modeling of Fuel Cells
o Detailed Model of PEMFC Catalyst Layer

Website: http://www.chemeng.queensu.ca/people/karan/

Dr. J.G. Pharoah, P.Eng (FCRC Associate Director)
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests
o Transport PEMFC Modelling
o SOFC Modelling
o Application of CFD to design
o Fuel Cell Transport

Website: http://me.queensu.ca/people/pharoah/

Dr. Christopher P. Thurgood
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Royal Military College of Canada

Dr. Boyd Davis
Adjunct Professor
Department of Mining Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests:
o Chemical Hydrogen Storage

o Metallurgical Process Development
oComputational Thermochemistry
o Metal Recycling

Website: http://mine.queensu.ca/people/faculty/Davis/

Dr. Patrick H. Oosthuizen, P. Eng., Fellow ASME
Professor Emeritus
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests:
o Basic Studies of Natural and Mixed Convective Heat Transfer
o Fuel Cell Modelling
o Heat Transfer through Windows

o Modelling of Solar Energy Systems for Buildings

Website: http://me.queensu.ca/people/oosthuizen/

Dr. Steven  Beale, P.Eng., F.ASME, F.IMechE

Adjunct Professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Queen's University

Senior Research Officer, Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology,

National Research Council

Research Interests:

o Transport phenomena in the passages of fuel cells
o Heat and mass transfer
o Multi-phase flow

o Porous media
o Stack modelling

Website:  http://cfd.icpet.nrc.ca/beale

Dr. Pascale Champagne
Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering &
Department of Chemical Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests:
o Biomass conversion

o Recovery of higher-value chemicals from waste biomass

Bionergy

o Solid waste management; minimizing the impact of municipal, agricultural and industrial activities on surface water and groundwater contamination

o composting and biostabilization of municipal, agricultural and industrial biosolids.

o Passive treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters and leachates

Website:

http://www.civil.queensu.ca/ca/people/faculty/champagne

Dr. Dominik P.J. Barz
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Queen's University

Research Interests

• Miniaturized power sources for Lab-on-Chip and Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) devices
• Electrokinetic phenomena in non-polar liquids
• Micro chemical and electrochemical reactors for energy conversion
• Microfluidics

Website:

http://www.chemeng.queensu.ca/people/faculty/barz

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Research Associates

Ela Halliop (Senior Research Associate)
Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus: Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Electrochemical processes in PEMFC's.

Dr. Dzmitry Malevich (Senior Research Associate)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus: Electrochemistry, Electrocatalysis, Surface and Interface Chemistry

Website: http://post.queensu.ca/~malevich/

Dr. Aidu Qi (Research Associate)

Supervisors: Brant Peppley & Chrisopher Thurgood

Research Focus:

• Fuel processing for H2-rich gas generation from bio-fuels;
• Reformer/reactor R&D as balance of plant for PEMFC or SOFC;
• Catalyst design, engineering and characterization;
• Reactions/processes integration, intensification and optimization

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Post-Doctoral Fellows

Odne Burheim (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisor: Dr. Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Hae-Won Choi (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisor: Dr. Jon Pharoah/Dr. Steven Beale

Research Focus:

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) modeling; SOFC system design and analysis with Open FOAM CFD Toolbox; transport modeling for microstructure of SOFC composite electrodes.

Chih-Che Chueh (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisors: Dr. Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

PEM fuel cell and multi-phase flow transport modeling in porous transport media.

Keith Huynh (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisors: Dr.Brant Peppley/Dr. Boyd Davis

Research Focus:

Utilization of automobile engine waste heat to power a thermally regenerative fuel cell.

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Ph.D. Candidates

Hamid Falahati (PhD Candidate)

Supervisor: Dominik Barz

Research Focus:

The development and characterization of a microfluidic battery.

David Harvey (Ph.D. Candidate)
Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Direct numerical simulation of PEM catalysts

Barath Ram Jayasankar (Ph.D. Candidate)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

Modeling and impedance analysis of PEM fuel cell 

Mobin Khakbaz-Baboli (Ph.D. Candidate)

Supervisor: Jon Pharoah/Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Numerical modeling of PEM catalyst layers.

Chenxi Li (Ph.D. Candidate)

Supervisor: Pascale Champagne

Research Focus:

Enhance anaerobic digestion process for biogas production using municipal organic waste treatment.

Mayur Mundhwa (Ph.D. Candidate)

Supervisor: Chris Thurgood (RMC)/Dr. Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Project Title: Modeling and Optimization of the Catalytic Plate Reactor for Methane and Diesel Steam Reforming

Project Description:

Modeling of a Catalytic Plate Reactor (CPR) has great potential to optimize industrial reforming processes and protect the environment. CPR design offers compactness, lower heat & mass transfer resistances (therefore better efficiency), high surface area with low catalyst loading, faster start-up (due to lower thermal inertia of each plate) and lower cost than conventional reformers. Plates, which are arranged in stack, are coated with reforming catalyst at one side and with combustion catalyst on the other side. Combustion of small part of fuel or recycled SOFC anode exhaust stream provides necessary heat to drive endothermic reforming reaction.

The project is divided into following sub-themes,

• Develop the numerical model with detailed microkinetics of reforming and combustion to study the performance of the CPR.

• Perform the experiments under different operating conditions and validate the model against experimentally generated data.

• Optimize the reformer design using validated model and suggest critical design as well as process criteria for reforming of methane and diesel.

Seyed Alireza Tanhatan Naseri (Ph.D. Candidate)
Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Thesis: Multi-scaleModelling, Simulation and Optimization of a Micro-Structured Reformer for Fuel Cell Applications

Research Description: The objective of my research is the systematic design of a micro-structured reformer for SOFC CANADA. Micro-structured reactors are promising devices for hydrocarbon steam reforming and hydrogen production for fuel cell systems. This research addresses the multi-scale nature of the reforming process in the porous catalyst layer of the reactor. The results of multi-scale simulation give valuable insight for optimal design of the catalyst layer and maximizing the rate of hydrogen production

Osayuki Osazuwa (Ph.D. Candidate)

Supervisor: Aris Docoslis

Research Focus:

Carbon Nanotube-filled Thermoplastic Composites with Improved Electrical and Mechanical Properties

Rajesh Parmar (Ph.D Candidate)

Project Title: Surface and gas phase mechanistic and kinetic study for diesel surrogate reforming

Supervisors: Dr. Kunal Karan and Dr. Brant A. Peppley

Project Description: Reducing the environmental impact of generating electricity by conventional diesel generators is a critical issue for many remote parts of Canada. It is estimated that, in Canada alone, there are 600,000 off-grid diesel generator sites, many in environmentally sensitive areas in the far North. The peak price of producing electricity off-grid in remote locations is on the order of $1.20 per kWh. This represents an early opportunity for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) coupled Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) system deployment. So as a member of “SOFCcanada” network, I am working on following targets:

1. Perform thermodynamic analysis for commercials diesel reforming and map the carbon formation boundary for different reforming process.
2. Literature search of best catalyst for commercial diesel reforming. Synthesize, characterize and perform long term activity test using commercial diesel.
3. Generate experimental gas phase as well as surface kinetic data for diesel surrogate (tetradecane) reforming.
4. Develop gas phase kinetic model to understand the species reaching to the catalyst surface for further surface reactions.
5. Perform surface science study using Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Spectroscopic study and identify the species adsorbed on the catalyst surface as well as determine the surface reaction mechanism for species reaching catalyst surface.   

Collaborator:

Dr. Dushyant Shekhawat, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Morgantown, WV, USA

Prof. William H. Green, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA 

Devproshad Kumer Paul (Ph.D. Candidate)

Supervisor: Kunal Karan/Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of catalyst layer, MEA fabrication, PEM Fuel Cell performance.

Sangeeta Shakrawar (Ph.D. Candidate)
Supervisor: Brant Peppley/Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Thermal stress analysis of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs)"

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M.Sc. Candidates

Todd Allward (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Working towards the development of a novel proton exchange membrane fuel cell which will operate using waste heat scavenged from automobile engines.

Nakkiran Arulmozhi (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR) mechanism in mixed-conductor SOFC cathodes. Experimental studies on Transport and kinetics phenomena at cathode/Electrolyte interface using impedance spectroscopy (micro-probe) on dense and porous systems.

Amit Bajpai (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisor: Dominik Barz

Research Focus:

Harsh Dhingra  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Enbridge/MCFC

Duncan Gawel  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Jonas Elliott Gerson  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

The creation of novel mircropumps for fuel cell and related applications. I will be functionalizing PDMS to create cost-effective micropumps to deal with water accumulation in PEM fuel cells.

Colin Haines  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Dr. Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Understanding how water and airflow combine inside the PTL and how temperature affects this relationship.

The thermal conductivity of a PTL under different pressures.

Eric Hardjo  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Dr. Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

My research focus is on single-pore microstructural mathematical modeling of SOFC anode. I will be investigating the full chemical and electrochemical kinetics occurring at the micro-pore anode. The heat and transport effects will be investigated as well. The model will be constructed in COMSOL simulation software.

Jerome James (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Imaging the porous transport layer of PEM Fuel Cells under various loading situations using micro x-ray tomography.

Yasir Z. Khan (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Component modelling and optimization of 1kW SOFC system which will run on diesel fuel. This SOFC system will then be developed and put together as part of my research.

Aida Khosravi (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

Catalytic coatings of metal foam monoliths for compact reformers.

Jillian Lackey (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Pascale Champagne

Research Focus:

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC’s) are a promising technology for producing clean electrical power from reformed hydrocarbon fuels. Before a fuel can be used, its effects on the SOFC must be known. I will be conducting a sensitivity analysis of a tubular solid oxide fuel cell (T-SOFC) to reformate of the anaerobic digestion process

Amin Oliazadeh  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Boyd Davis

Research Focus:

Alexandru Sonoc  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Christopher Thurgood

Research Focus:

Biogas conditioning/purification - purification of biogas for use in solid oxide fuel cells

Stephen Trevor Wartman (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Chris Thurgood (RMC) and Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

The steam reforming of biofuels; specifically higher alochols such as 1-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, 2-mtheyl-1-propanol.

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FCRC Graduates

Mohamed Abdul (M.Sc.)
Supervisors: Kunal Karan, Boyd Davis

Research Focus: Extraction of hydrogen from NaBH4 utilizing ionic liquids.

Thesis Defended:  November 2006

Ryan Aubin (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Boyd Davis

Research Focus: The development of a thermally regenerative fuel cell utilizing low-grade industrial waste heat.

Thesis Defended: September 2009

Mark Austin (M.Sc.)
Supervisors: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: September 2005

Adegboyega Babasola (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus: Fuel cell for generating Non-Combustion Thermal Energy for preheating at pressure drop point in gas pipeline transportation.

Thesis Defended: August 6, 2010

Drew Blore (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Numerical modeling of PEM fuel cells.

Thesis Defended:

David Castagne (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Kim McAuley, Kunal Karan

Research Focus: Investigation of water transport in PEMFCs.

Thesis Defended: September 2008

Alex Davis (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus: Analysis, design and fabrication of microchannel chemical reactors.

Thesis Defended:  April 2006

Jan De Bakker (Ph.D. Candidate)

Supervisor: Boyd Davis

Research Focus:

Molten Salt Hydrates, which are highly concentrated solutions of such salts as magnesium, calcium and iron chlorides. My research will investigate the thermodynamics of MSHs and look at applications for these melts in metallurgy and heat storage.

Dan Hamilton (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: November 2005

David Harvey (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Thesis Defended:

Mark Hoidas  (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Dr. A. Docoslis

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: December 17, 2009

Cliff Howard (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Pat Oosthuizen

Research Focus: Investigating natural gas expansion turbine and fuel cell hybrid system for power generation at pressure letdown stations.

Thesis Defended: October 29, 2009

Ben Kenney (Ph.D.)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus: Cathode design for low temperature solid oxide fuel cell

Thesis Defended: December 18, 2009

Jin Kim (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Nicolas Cunningham and Chris Thurgood

Research Focus: To develop an air-breathing PEM fuel cell which uses porous carbon foam (RVC) in the cathode side.

Thesis Defended: January 20, 2009

Mike Lankin (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus: Fabrication of thin layer electrolytes via electrophoretic deposition for solid oxide fuel cell applications; Direct ethanol fuel cells.

Thesis Defended: December 2006

Dean Latham (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Kim McAuley

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: December 2008

Flora Lo (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: December 2005

Emmanuel Resch (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus: Mathematical modelling of PEM/SOFC fuel cells.
Email:  emmanuel.resch@gmail.com

Thesis Defended: October 2008

Lan Sun (Ph.D.)
Supervisor: Pat Oosthuizen

Research Focus: Mathematical modelling of PEM fuel cells.

Thesis Defended: December 2006

Wei Sun (M.Sc)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: January 2005

Steve Sylvestre (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Pat Oosthuizen

Research Focus: Numerical modelling of hydrogen production from iso-octane in an authothermal reforming reactor.

Thesis Defended: August 29 2007

Brian Tysoe (M.Sc.)
Supervisor: Jon. G. Pharoah and Steven Beale

Research Focus: Numerical and experimental characterization of PEMFC electrodes.

Thesis Defended:  October 2006

Adam Shaw (M. Sc.)
Supervisors: Stephen Harrison, Patrick Oosthuizen

Research Focus: Experimental analysis of an autothermal gasoline reformer for automotive purposes.

Thesis Defended: March 2008

Adam St. John (M. Sc.)
Supervisors: Boyd Davis, Jon Pharoah, Kunal Karan

Research Focus: Hybrid hydrogen storage method.

Thesis defended: Fall 2007

Andrea Van Bruinessen (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus: Nanoengineered and Structured Electrodes for PEM Fuel Cells.

Thesis Defended: December 2008

Markus Van Doormall (M.Sc.)

Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus:

Thesis Defended: October 2005

Former HQP

Ruhul Amin (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisor: Kunal Karan

(Left FCRC January 30, 2010)

Research Focus: Intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cell cathode materials, special emphasis on micro-contact measurement for elucidating the mechanism of oxygen reduction kinetics.

Craig Baker (M.Sc. Candidate)

Supervisor: Jon Pharoah

Research Focus: Numerical simulation of PEMFC and PEM cathode.

Arganthaël Berson (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisor: Dr. Jon Pharoah

(left FCRC August, 2010)

Research Focus: Experimental characterization of the two-phase flow in the micro-channels of PEM fuel cells.

Dr. Arunabha Kundu (Research Associate)

Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus: Development of Stable and Durable Catalyst for Diesel Reforming.

Dr. Rajender Kondakindi (Research Associate)

Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus: Development of carbon and sulfur tolerant catalysts for the diesel reforming. Development of low-temperature sinterable electrolyte and new anode materials.

Misha Monder (Post Doctoral Fellow)

Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

We are developing first principles multi-scale models to improve fundamental understanding of the highly coupled physical and chemical processes in a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). My current work focuses on:

1) Modeling the sulfur poisoning of fuel-side electrochemistry and the direct simulation of the impact of this poisoning on anode performance. Through this work we are also extending current understanding of catalytic processes at the atomic level. We are extending ab-initio thermodynamics methodologies by combining density functional theory (DFT) and statistical mechanics calculations to properly account for thermal and surface-coverage effects.

2) Building detailed transport-reaction models for the anode electrochemistry. A necessary feature of such detailed models is the large number of chemical and physical parameters such as thermodynamic properties, kinetic rate constants, surface diffusion coefficients, etc. that are required to define the model. To insure self-consistency in our model we use DFT calculations to estimate mechanisms and parameters for both the elementary electrochemical reactions as well as the transport of surface species. For this project, we are collaborating with Prof. Ziegler's theoretical chemistry group at the University of Calgary.

Dr. Madhu Saha (Research Associate)

Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus:

• Electrochemistry of electrode materials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage
• Nano-scale electro-catalyst development for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs)
• Gas diffusion electrode inks formulation and Membrane Electrode Assembly  fabrication, and characterization in PEMFCs

Jaka Suryana (PEMFC Research Assistant – Chemical Process Engineer) June 2008 – May 2011

Supervisor: Dr. Dzmitry Malevich

Research Focus:

• PEM Fuel Cell catalyst layer electrochemical characterization (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, CO stripping voltammetry)
• Pt/C catalyst ink deposition method on the Nafion membrane by piezoelectrical printing for PEM Fuel Cell
• PEM Fuel Cell Pt/C catalyst ink characterization (ICP-MS, RDE)
• PEM Fuel Cell performance testing

Edward Thomas  (M.Sc. Candidate)
Supervisor: Kunal Karan

Research Focus:

Integrated microreactors/heat exchangers.

Dr. Ying Wan (Research Associate)

Supervisor: Brant Peppley

Research Focus: Ionic conducting polymers; Solid polymer electrolytes; Polymer composite membranes; Alkaline polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

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