Analysis of Flow Maldistribution of Fuel and Oxidant in a PEMFC

Abstract

The flow of fuel and oxidant through a PEMFC is analyzed for prediction of maldistribution. Flow distribution of both fuel and oxidant from the port to the individual cells critically control the performance of a PEMFC stack in combination. The distribution of fluids was simulated by analytical approach utilizing flow channeling model of a manifold. A detailed numerical modeling is also carried out considering flow in each cell between the electrodes as flow through an equivalent porous medium offering identical resistance. The results show a close match between the analytical and numerical results. The parametric study reveals that flow rate and port size plays major role determining maldistribution of the fluids, which can be considerably skewed when large numbers of cells are stacked for larger power output.

Influence of geometric parameters of the flow fields on the performance of a PEM fuel cell. A review

“…The lack of an experimental technique to measure the instantaneous flow distribution is something that needs to be overcome, although it may represent an extremely difficult issue for PEM stacks systems. However, numerical attempts were attained by Ganesh et al and Bansode et al [5,6], who simulated the flow distribution in a PEM stack by using flow channelling theory to analyse flow maldistribution. Their investigations showed how the variation in port diameter leaded to different grades of gas maldistribution and consequently, non-uniform water content in the membrane.…”

Turbulent forced convection in a shell and tube heat exchanger equipped with novel design of wing baffles

“…Acharya et al (2001) the helical spiral configuration is very effective for heat exchange, a compact structure and a large area of heat transfer in a small space. The work of Mohan et al (2004) confirmed that the flow maldistribution is a function of three important geometrical parameters: the number of tubes and the tube size and the flow rate. Yang et al (2005) presented a study of heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of heat exchangers with different helix angles.…”

Evaluation of a Tapered Header Configuration to Reduce Flow Maldistribution in Minichannels and Microchannels

“…The severity of maldistribution depended strongly on the geometric factors such as the channel dimensions, the header dimensions and the rib width between parallel channels. Mohan et al [8] performed flow maldistribution analysis of fuel and oxidant in PEM fuel cells. They reported that the maldistribution was dependent on the number of channels, flow rate and also on the properties of the working fluid.…”