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Dott.ssa Paola Costamagna

Telefono: +39-10-3532922

E-mail: cosatamagna@unige.it

Fax: +39 010 3532586

Dr. Paola Costamagna is ‘ricercatore’ (equivalent to ‘assistant professor’) of Transport Phenomena-Chemical Engineering at DICheP, University of Genoa, Italy. In the latest years, her research activity was mainly in the field of electrochemical reactors, particularly on the topics of solid oxide, molten carbonate and proton exchange membrane fuel cells; her studies focused on both experimental and theoretical aspects. In addition, she has worked in the fields of fluidised beds, and on the fluid-dynamic simulation of oscillating flows in turbulent regimen.
She is a member of the Electrochemical Society from 2000; in the years 2000 and 2002 she has been in the scientific committee of the EUROPEAN SOFC Forum.
She has been collaborating with several Europeans and American Universities and Research Institutions, such as Princeton University (US), where she worked as a research associate in 1999. In the year 2000 she was invited by NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway) to be member of a Doctorate Degree examination committee. She is currently serving as a reviewer for several international Journals, and in particular the Journal of Power Sources.
She is author of about 20 papers published in international Journals. She was winner of a ‘Young Scientist Grant’ awarded by the organising committee of ISCRE 16 (2000).

Research Activity in the Field of Fuel Cells


Solid oxide fuel cells:

  • development of a simulation model for the electro-catalyst of the reactor. The simulation has been successfully compared to experimental data found in the literature, while an experimental campaign designed ad-hoc is in progress. The model allowed the identification of optimisation criteria for the electrode composition and thickness, which are expected to lead to a significant improvement in the efficiency of the process,
  • development of a simulation model for the overall reactor, including the simulation of the electro-catalyst. The code has been successfully validated through experimental data obtained in co-operation with some European research institutes and industrial companies. In particular, the following aspects were analysed: (i) non-uniform distribution of the gaseous reactants within each single cell and among the different cells of a stack, (ii) departure of the open circuit voltage from the thermodynamic voltage
  • plant simulation, in order to understand the behaviour of the overall plant under off-design condition.

Work in progress: research in collaboration with EU partners (Rolls-Royce et al.), under the framework of the EU contract ‘IM-SOFC-GT’, for the simulation of a SOFC manufactured and operated by Rolls-Royce
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells:
  • development of a simulation model, in collaboration with De Nora (Italy). The model allowed the identification of the zones of the cell where water condensation can occur.
  • experimental research, carried out at Princeton University, aimed at the preparation of new composite membranes for PEMFC operation at temperatures higher than 100°C. This study involved the preparation of composite membranes through a sol-gel method and the characterization of the membranes through a.c. measurements, SEM, TGA, IR techniques. Finally, the membranes were coupled with the electrodes to form a fuel cell and then tested in terms of characteristic curves, Tafel plots and cyclic voltammetry. The results demonstrated that it is possible to operate a PEMFC at temperatures equal to or higher than 130oC. The main problem for operation at these high temperatures was the water loss from the perfluorosulfonic acid electrolyte membrane. Impregnation with a hygroscopic insoluble salt gave significant improvement in performance under dehydrating conditions; this result was demonstrated with composite electrolytes prepared starting from both commercial Nafion and recast Nafion films, which, when operated with H2/O2 at 130°C and 3 atm pressure, showed a four fold increase in current density at 0.4 V over an MEA based on commercial Nafion and operated under the same conditions.

publications in InTernational Journals

[R1]         De Francesco M., Costamagna P., On the design of Electrochemical Reactors for the Treatment of Polluted Water, Journal of Cleaner Production, (in press).

[R2]         Magistri L., Bozzo R. Costamagna P., Massardo A.F., Simplified versus Detailed SOFC Reactor Models and Influence on the Simulation of the Design Point Performance of Hybrid Systems, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power – Transactions of the ASME, (in press).

[R3]         Magistri L., Costamagna P., Rodgers C., McDonald C.F., Massardo A.F., A Hybrid System based on a Personal Turbine (5kW) and a SOFC Stack: a Flexible and High Efficiency Energy Concept for the Distributed Power Market, Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power – Transactions of the ASME, (in press).

[R4]         Costamagna P., Vittori G., Blondeaux P., Coherent Structures in Oscillatory Boundary Layers, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, vol. 474, pp. 1-33, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, January 2003.

[R5]         Loezos P., Costamagna P., Sundaresan S., The role of Contact Stresses and Wall Friction on Fluidization, Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 57, no. 24, pp. 5123-5141, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., December 2002.

[R6]         Barbucci A., Bozzo R., Cerisola G., Costamagna P., Characterisation of Composite SOFC Cathodes using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy. Analysis of Pt/YSZ and LSM/YSZ Electrodes, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 47, no. 13-14, pp. 2183-2188, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 2002.

[R7]         Costamagna P., Panizza M., Cerisola G., Barbucci A., Effect of Composition on the Performance of Cermet Electrodes. Experimental and Theoretical Approach, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 47, no. 7, pp. 1079-1089, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 2002.

[R8]         Costamagna P., Yang C., Bocarsly A.B., Srinivasan S., NafionÒ 115/Zirconium Phosphate Composite Membranes for Operation of PEMFCs above 100°C, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 47, no. 7, pp. 1023-1033, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 2002.

[R9]         Yang C., Costamagna P., Srinivasan S., Benziger J., Bocarsly A.B., Approaches and Technical Challenges to High Temperature Operation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 103, pp. 1-9, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., December 2001.

[R10]    Costamagna P., Srinivasan S., Quantum Jumps in the PEMFC Science and Technology from the 1960s to the year 2000. Part II – Engineering, Technology Development and Application Aspects, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 102, pp. 254-270, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., December 2001.

[R11]    Costamagna P., Srinivasan S., Quantum Jumps in the PEMFC Science and Technology from the 1960s to the year 2000. Part I – Fundamental Scientific Aspects, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 102, pp. 243-253, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., December 2001.

[R12]    Costamagna P., Magistri L., Massardo A.F., Design and Part-Load Performance of a Hybrid System based on a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Reactor and a Micro Gas Turbine, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 96, no. 2, pp. 352-369, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., 2001.

[R13]    Costamagna P., Transport Phenomena in Polymeric Membrane Fuel Cells, Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 56, pp. 323-332, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., February 2001.

[R14]    Bosio B., Costamagna P., Parodi F., Modeling and Experimentation of Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Reactors in a Scale-up Process, Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 54, pp. 2907-2916, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 1999.

[R15]    Costamagna P., Honegger K., Modeling of Solid Oxide Heat Exchanger Integrated Stacks and Simulation at High Fuel Utilization, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, vol. 145, no. 11, pp. 3995-4007, Pennington, NJ: The Electrochemical Society Inc., November 1998.

[R16]    Bosio B., Costamagna P., Parodi F., Passalacqua B., Industrial Experience on the Development of the Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Technology, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 74, pp. 175-187, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., 1998.

[R17]    Costamagna P., Costa P., Arato E., Some More Considerations on the Optimization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrodes, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 43, no. 8, pp. 967-972, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 1998.

[R18]    Costamagna P., Costa P., Antonucci, V., Micro-Modelling of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Electrodes, Electrochimica Acta, vol. 43, no. 3-4, pp. 375-394, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 1998.

[R19]    Costamagna P., The Benefit of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells with Integrated Air Pre-Heater, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 69, pp. 1-9, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., 1997.

[R20]    Costamagna P., Arato E., Antonucci P.L., Antonucci V., Partial Oxidation of CH4 in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: Simulation Model of the Electrochemical Reactor and Experimental Validation, Chemical Engineering Science, vol. 51, no. 11, pp. 3013-3018, Oxford, UK: Pergamon, Elsevier Science Ltd., 1996.

[R21]    Costamagna P., Arato E., Achenbach E., Reus U., Fluid Dynamic Study of Fuel Cell Devices – Simulation and Experimental Validation, Journal of Power Sources, vol. 52, pp. 243-249, Lausanne, CH: Elsevier Science S.A., 1994.

[R22]    Arato E., Costamagna P., Costa P., Flow Distribution in Fuel Cell Stacks, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 85-92, Zagreb, Croatia: Croatian Society of Chemical Engineers, June 1994.