Effects of heat and water transport on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell under high current density operation

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 352-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichiro Tabuchi ◽  
Takeshi Shiomi ◽  
Osamu Aoki ◽  
Norio Kubo ◽  
Kazuhiko Shinohara
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Water Transport ◽  
Current Density ◽  
High Current Density ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
High Current ◽  
Electrolyte Membrane

The stability challenge on the pathway to high-current-density polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers

2018 ◽  
Vol 278 ◽  
pp. 324-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Rakousky ◽  
Gareth P. Keeley ◽  
Klaus Wippermann ◽  
Marcelo Carmo ◽  
Detlef Stolten
Keyword(s):  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Current Density ◽  
High Current Density ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
High Current ◽  
Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
The Stability

Effect of Operating Conditions on the Water Transport Phenomena at the Cathode of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sang Hern Seo ◽  
Chang Sik Lee
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Water Transport ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Water Droplet ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
Transport Phenomena ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Water Flooding ◽  
Electrolyte Membrane

Water management is very important for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell because the fuel cell performance is decreased by flooding phenomena generated by liquid water in the cathode channels. In addition, the proton conductivity and water transport of membrane could become different by hydration contents of membrane. This study is observed water transport phenomena of cathode channels with a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell according to various operating conditions. In order to obtain the water images, the transparent fuel cell consists of polycarbonate window of the cathode end plate and gold coated stainless steel as the flow field and current collector of the cathode. To investigate the effects of operating conditions on the water transport, experiments were conducted under various operating conditions such as cell temperature, cathode flow rate and cathode backpressure. As operating time elapsed, it is observed that the water droplet formation, growth, coalescence and removal occurred in the cathode channel. It can be known that the high cathode flow rate prevents water flooding by removal of water in the cathode flow channel. Also, the quantity of water droplet was increased by the high cathode backpressure.

Current Distribution in a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Under Flooding Conditions

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Jamekhorshid ◽  
G. Karimi ◽  
X. Li
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Current Distribution ◽  
Current Density ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Average Current Density ◽  
Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Average Current

Non-uniform current distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells results in local over-heating, accelerated ageing, and lower power output than expected. This issue is very critical when fuel cell experiences water flooding. In this work, the performance of a PEM fuel cell is investigated under cathode flooding conditions. A partially flooded GDL model is proposed to study local current density distributions along flow fields over a wide range of cell operating conditions. The model results show as cathode inlet humidity and/or cell pressure increase the average current density for the unflooded portions of the cell increases but the system becomes more sensitive to flooding. Operating the cell at higher temperatures would lead to higher average current densities and the chance of system being flooded is reduced. In addition, higher cathode stoichiometries prevent system flooding but the average current density remains almost constant.

Three dimensional numerical simulation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 427-451
Author(s):  
Yeping Peng ◽  
Ghasem Bahrami ◽  
Hossein Khodadadi ◽  
Alireza Karimi ◽  
Ahmad Soleimani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Current Density ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Electrolyte Membrane

Purpose The purpose of this study is simulation of of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells are promising power sources for use in power plants and vehicles. These fuel cells provide a high level of energy efficiency at low temperature without any pollution. The convection inside the cell plays a key role in the electrochemical reactions and the performance of the cell. Accordingly, the transport processes in these cells have been investigated thoroughly in previous studies that also carried out functional modeling. Design/methodology/approach A multi-phase model was used to study the limitations of the reactions and their impact on the performance of the cell. The governing equations (conservation of mass, momentum and particle transport) were solved by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) (ANSYS fluent) using appropriate source terms. The two-phase flow in the fuel cell was simulated three-dimensionally under steady-state conditions. The flow of water inside the cell was also simulated at high-current density. Findings The simulation results suggested that the porosity of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) is one of the most important design parameters with a significant impact on the current density limitation and, consequently, on the cell performance. Originality/value This study was mainly focused on the two-phase analysis of the steady flow in the fuel cell and on investigating the impacts of a two-phase flow on the performance of the cell and also on the flow in the GDL, the membrane and the catalyst layer using the CFD.

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