Heat and mass transfer performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with electrode of anisotropic thermal conductivity

Han, Chuan; Jiang, Tao; Shang, Kang; Xu, Bo; Chen, Zhenqian

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2021.121957

Cited by 24 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The initial temperature of coolant set in this study is 60°C, which can keep the working temperature of PEMFC at about 70°C. The flow of the coolant can be calculated by the conservation equation 17,24 :

Q_{c} goodbreak= \frac{qAn}{ρ C_{p, c} italicΔT} .

…”

Section: Numerical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the rapid increase in the power density of PEMFC stack, the heat dissipation requirements of fuel cell are more stringent, heat transfer enhancement is necessary to fully exchange the generated heat. 23,24 The performance and durability of PEMFC can be badly affected by uneven temperature distribution and local high temperature. Based on this, flow field plates with different structures are designed, including parallel flow field, serpentine flow field, point flow field, and wavy flow field, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluation of cooling flow field of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on heat transfer performance enhancement

Deng

Liu

Zhou

et al. 2022

Intl J of Energy Research

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Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) generates a lot of heat during power generation. It is necessary to control PEMFC to operate at proper temperature through effective thermal management. CFD model of flow field plates with different structures is established; the heat transfer performance of different flow fields was analyzed by numerical simulation. The index of uniformity temperature (IUT) was introduced to further evaluate the heat transfer effect. The results showed that the parallel flow field was not suitable for cooling due to its poor performance at high coolant flow rate. The pressure difference of serpentine flow field was more than 10 times that of other flow fields, which lead to the highest cost in practical cooling application. The wave flow field with the best comprehensive cooling effect at high flow velocity, and the average temperature and IUT were 2.22% and 37.97% lower than the parallel flow field, respectively. The cooling effect of point flow field followed the second, and its average temperature and IUT were 1.65% and 29.71% lower than those of parallel flow field, respectively. In practice application, the wavy flow field showed better heat transfer performance within the required coolant flow range.

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Q_{c} goodbreak= \frac{qAn}{ρ C_{p, c} italicΔT} .

…”

Section: Numerical Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Evaluation of cooling flow field of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on heat transfer performance enhancement

Deng

Liu

Zhou

et al. 2022

Intl J of Energy Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus optimizing flow channel design, inserting obstacles or increasing turbulence, will inevitably bring changes in heat transfer characteristics. During the operation process of PEMFC, about 50% of the energy will be lost in the form of heat transfer, 24 and the transport of reactant, water, and charge would be easily affected by the temperature distribution 25 . Heat transfer characteristic, as well as mass transfer characteristic, are crucial for guiding the design of PEMFC.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement effects of the side blockage arrangement in the flow channel on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Shen

Yan

et al. 2022

Intl J of Energy Research

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Summary Flow field configuration critically affects the heat and mass transfer process in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), which is a key factor to ensure efficient and stable operation of fuel cells. Side blockages arranged in the cathode flow channel is proposed for performance improving of PEMFC. Conventional straight, side blockage alternating with straight, side blockage flow channels are studied to analyze the effects of side blockages arrangement on the distribution of velocity, temperature, reactant concentration and water content and the performance of PEMFC. Results show that the O2 mole concentration in the flow field could be increased by the presence of side blockages, thus the convective mass transfer coefficient and performance are both improved. At current density of 2.0 A cm−2, the performance of PEMFC increases by 9.5%. In comparison to the straight flow channel, flow channels installing side blockage present about 1.5 K lower of the maximum temperature, more uniform temperature distribution and increased Nusselt number, indicating the enhancement of heat transfer. Based on field synergy theory, it’s found that the average angles describing the synergetic effect of heat transfer and mass transfer decrease with the installation of side blockages. This reveals the enhancement of the synergetic degree in heat and mass transfer processes under the turbulence of side blockages, which coincides with the improved performance of PEMFC.

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“…The temperature distribution on the back of the separator and the interface between PEM and the cathode catalyst layer has been investigated experimentally [15,16] and numerically [17,18], respectively, by the authors. Though the current density and temperature distribution were studied experimentally [19] and numerically [20] at the same time, there have been no reports investigating the distribution of H 2 , O 2 , H 2 O concentration and current density on the interface between PEM and the anode catalyst layer, where the H 2 oxidation reaction occurs or the interface between PEM and the cathode catalyst layer where the O 2 reduction reaction occurs. In addition, the previous numerical research [12][13][14] used the contour figure qualitatively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Simulation on Impacts of Thickness of Nafion Series Membranes and Relative Humidity on PEMFC Operated at 363 K and 373 K

et al. 2021

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The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of the thickness of Nafion membrane, which is a typical polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), and relative humidity of supply gas on the distributions of H2, O2, H2O concentration and current density on the interface between a Nafion membrane and anode catalyst layer or the interface between a Nafion membrane and cathode catalyst layer. The effect of the initial temperature of the cell (Tini) is also investigated by the numerical simulation using the 3D model by COMSOL Multiphysics. As a result, the current density decreases along with the gas flow through the gas channel irrespective of the Nafion membrane thickness and Tini, which can be explained by the concentration distribution of H2 and O2 consumed by electrochemical reaction. The molar concentration of H2O decreases when the thickness of Nafion membrane increases, irrespective of Tini and the relative humidity of the supply gas. The current density increases with the increase in relative humidity of the supply gas, irrespective of the Nafion membrane thickness and Tini. This study recommends that a thinner Nafion membrane with well-humidified supply gas would promote high power generation at the target temperature of 363 K and 373 K.

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Heat and mass transfer performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with electrode of anisotropic thermal conductivity

Cited by 24 publications

References 54 publications

Evaluation of cooling flow field of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on heat transfer performance enhancement

Evaluation of cooling flow field of proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on heat transfer performance enhancement

Enhancement effects of the side blockage arrangement in the flow channel on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Numerical Simulation on Impacts of Thickness of Nafion Series Membranes and Relative Humidity on PEMFC Operated at 363 K and 373 K

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