scholarly journals Design and Modelling of 3D Bionic Cathode Flow Field for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (19) ◽  
pp. 6044
Author(s):  
Lingfeng Xuan ◽  
Yancheng Wang ◽  
Deqing Mei ◽  
Jingwei Lan
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Structural Design ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Bipolar Plate ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Porous Electrodes ◽  
Exchange Membrane

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been utilized as a promising power source for new energy vehicles. Their performances are greatly affected by the structural design of the flow field in the bipolar plate. In this paper, we present a novel three-dimensional (3D) bionic cathode flow field, inspired by the small intestinal villi. The structural design and working principle of the 3D bionic flow field units are first described. A 3D numerical model is developed to study the mass transfer and distribution of the reactants and products, as well as the polarization performances of the PEMFC with the 3D bionic cathode flow field. The simulation results indicate that the proposed 3D bionic flow field can significantly improve the reaction gas supply from the flow field to porous electrodes, and thus would be beneficial for the removal of liquid water in the cathode. The mass transfer of gas in the PEMFC can be enhanced due to the increasing contact areas between the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and the cathode flow field, and the distribution of currents in the membrane would be more uniform. The obtained results demonstrated the feasibility of using the 3D bionic flow field for the development of highly efficient PEMFCs with high power density.

scholarly journals Scaling up Studies on PEMFC Using a Modified Serpentine Flow Field Incorporating Porous Sponge Inserts to Observe Water Molecules

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 286
Author(s):  
Muthukumar Marappan ◽  
Rengarajan Narayanan ◽  
Karthikeyan Manoharan ◽  
Magesh Kannan Vijayakrishnan ◽  
Karthikeyan Palaniswamy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flow Field ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Electrochemical Impedance ◽  
Scaling Up ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Serpentine Flow Field ◽  
Exchange Membrane ◽  
Power Densities

Flooding of the cathode flow channel is a major hindrance in achieving maximum performance from Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) during the scaling up process. Water accumulated between the interface region of Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) and rib of the cathode flow field can be removed by the use of Porous Sponge Inserts (PSI) on the ribs. In the present work, the experimental investigations are carried out on PEMFC for the various reaction areas, namely 25, 50 and 100 cm2. Stoichiometry value of 2 is maintained for all experiments to avoid variations in power density obtained due to differences in fuel utilization. The experiments include two flow fields, namely Serpentine Flow Field (SFF) and Modified Serpentine with Staggered provisions of 4 mm PSI (4 mm × 2 mm × 2 mm) Flow Field (MSSFF). The peak power densities obtained on MSSFF are 0.420 W/cm2, 0.298 W/cm2 and 0.232 W/cm2 compared to SFF which yields 0.242 W/cm2, 0.213 W/cm2 and 0.171 W/cm2 for reaction areas of 25, 50 and 100 cm2 respectively. Further, the reliability of experimental results is verified for SFF and MSSFF on 25 cm2 PEMFC by using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). The use of 4 mm PSI is found to improve the performance of PEMFC through the better water management.

STUDY ON THE OPTIMIZATION FOR THE SIZE OF FUEL CELL FLOW FIELD UNDER INADEQUATE AIR SUPPLY CONDITION

Química Nova ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi Lei ◽  
Zheng Minggang
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Field Size ◽  
Air Supply ◽  
Supply Condition ◽  
Length Width ◽  
Exchange Membrane

In this paper, the influence of the optimization for flow field size on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance under the inadequate air supply of cathode was studied based on the three-dimensional, steady-state, and constant temperature PEMFC monomer model. Additionally, the effect of the optimization for hybrid factors, including length, width, depth and width-depth, on the PEMFC performance was also investigated. The results showed that the optimization of the flow field size can improve the performance of the PEMFC and ensure that it is close to the level under the normal gas supply.

A novel intersectant flow field of metal bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (14) ◽  
pp. 2184-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Dong-Hui ◽  
Yin Lin-Zhi ◽  
Piao Zhong-Yu ◽  
Lu Cong-Da ◽  
Li Gang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Bipolar Plate ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Exchange Membrane

Numerical Simulation of Fractal Tree-Shaped Flow Field Structures in PEMFC

2012 ◽  
Vol 151 ◽  
pp. 32-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Hua Dong ◽  
Shun Fang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Mass Transfer ◽  
Flow Field ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Plant Root ◽  
Fractal Theory ◽  
Bipolar Plate ◽  
Field Structure ◽  
Proton Exchange

The fractal tree-shaped structure such as tree, plant root, leaves, animal lung and so on is universal and unique in nature. These structures possess the symmetric micro-channel distributions and the efficient transport characteristics. They are considered to be an optimal network channel of mass transfer and heat transfer. The mass transfer and heat transfer feature of bipolar plate in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is similar with animal lungs and leaves. In this paper, fractal theory is used to study tree-shaped flow field structure of bipolar plate in PEMFC. It is demonstrated by numerical simulation that fractal tree-shaped flow field structure can provide substantially flow-field distribution, current density and heat transfer compared to the traditional flow field structure.

An Analytical Model for Contact Pressure Prediction Considering Dimensional Error of Stamped Bipolar Plate and Gas Diffusion Layer in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack Assembly

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Linfa Peng ◽  
Diankai Qiu ◽  
Peiyun Yi ◽  
Xinmin Lai
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Pressure Distribution ◽  
Contact Pressure ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Pem Fuel Cell ◽  
Bipolar Plate ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Dimensional Errors ◽  
Exchange Membrane

Contact pressure distribution between bipolar plate (BPP) and gas diffusion layer (GDL) has significant impact on performance and life time of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Most current studies for contact pressure prediction are based on finite-element analysis (FEA), requiring huge computation for the whole fuel cell assembly. Comparatively speaking, the more generalized and well-developed analytical methods are deficient in this field. The objective of this study is to propose a full-scale continuous equivalent model to predict GDL contact pressure effectively in the PEM fuel cell. Using the model, the nonuniform pressure distribution resulted from dimensional errors of metallic BPP and GDL could be obtained. First, a parameterized theoretical model of BPP/GDL assembly is established based on equivalent stiffness analysis of components, and definition methods of dimensional errors are proposed according to actual measurements and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS). Then, experiments are carried out to obtain the actual GDL contact pressure and the model results show good agreement with experimental results. At last, effects of dimensional errors are investigated. Acceptable assembly pressure for a given fuel cell is suggested based on the model. This model is helpful to understand the effect of the dimensional errors, and it also could be adopted to guide the manufacturing of BPP, GDL, and the assembling of PEM fuel cell.

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