Species-Electrochemical Modeling of an Air-Breathing Cathode of a Planar Fuel Cell

Feeding vaporized methanol to the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) helps reduce the effects of methanol crossover (MCO) and facilitates the use of high-concentration or neat methanol so as to enhance the energy density of the fuel cell system. This paper reports a novel system design coupling a catalytic combustor with a vapor-feed air-breathing DMFC. The combustor functions as an assistant heat provider to help transform the liquid methanol into vapor phase. The feasibility of this method is experimentally validated. Compared with the traditional electric heating mode, the operation based on this catalytic combustor results in a higher cell performance. Results indicate that the values of methanol concentration and methanol vapor chamber (MVC) temperature both have direct effects on the cell performance, which should be well optimized. As for the operation of the catalytic combustor, it is necessary to optimize the number of capillary wicks and also catalyst loading. In order to fast trigger the combustion reaction, an optimal oxygen feed rate (OFR) must be used. The required amount of oxygen to sustain the reaction can be far lower than that for methanol ignition in the starting stage.

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Steady state macroscopic model of the influence of water on the performances of a micro air-breathing fuel cell

The European Physical Journal Applied Physics ◽

10.1051/epjap/2011100269 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 23406

Author(s):

M. Zeidan ◽

Ch. Turpin ◽

F. Cantin ◽

S. Astier

Keyword(s):

Steady State ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Macroscopic Model ◽

Air Breathing ◽

Influence Of Water

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Investigation of a Symmetric Hydrogen-Purging Strategy for an Air-Breathing PEM Fuel Cell Stack Working in a Closed Environment

ECS Meeting Abstracts ◽

10.1149/ma2021-02371104mtgabs ◽

2021 ◽

Vol MA2021-02 (37) ◽

pp. 1104-1104

Author(s):

Ariel Chiche ◽

Göran Lindbergh ◽

Ivan Stenius ◽

Carina Lagergren

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Air Breathing ◽

Fuel Cell Stack ◽

Closed Environment

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PdAuAg Alloy Nanoparticles on Nickel Foam as Anode for Passive Air-Breathing Formate Fuel Cell

Journal of The Electrochemical Society ◽

10.1149/1945-7111/ac0c31 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bowei Pan ◽

Fuyi Chen ◽

Junpeng Wang ◽

Quan Tang ◽

Longfei Guo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cell ◽

Nickel Foam ◽

Alloy Nanoparticles ◽

Air Breathing

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An Experimental Investigation of the Effects of the Environmental Conditions and the Channel Depth for an Air-Breathing Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology ◽

10.1115/1.2971196 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 5 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Yong Hun Park ◽

Jerald A. Caton

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cell ◽

Relative Humidity ◽

Flow Field ◽

Current Density ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽

Channel Depth ◽

Air Breathing ◽

Fuel Cell Performance ◽

Electrolyte Membrane

The effects of the environmental conditions and the channel depth for an air-breathing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell were investigated experimentally. The fuel cell used in this work included a membrane and electrode assembly, which possessed an active area of 25 cm2 with Nafion® 117 membrane. Triple serpentine designs for the flow fields with two different flow depths were used in this research. The experimental results indicated that the relative humidity and temperature play an important role with respect to fuel cell performance. The fuel cell needs to be operated at least 20 min to obtain stable performance. When the shallow flow field was used, the performance increased dramatically for low humidity and slightly for high humidity. The current density was obtained around only 120 mA/cm2 at 30°C with an 80% relative humidity, which was nearly double the performance for the deep flow field. The minimum operating temperature for an air-breathing fuel cell would be 20°C. When it was 10°C at 60% relative humidity, the open circuit voltage dropped to around 0.65 V. The fuel cell performance improved with increasing relative humidity from 80% to 100% at high current density.

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