Liquid cooling techniques in proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks: A detailed survey

Bargal, Mohamed H. S.; Abdelkareem, Mohamed A. A.; Tao, Qi; Li, Jing; Shi, Jianpeng; Wang, Yiping

doi:10.1016/j.aej.2020.02.005

Cited by 119 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…It was found that liquid cooling systems are more suitable because the heat transfer coefficients for liquid flow are much higher than those for air flow. The main drawbacks of liquid cooling include the great amount of power consumed by the accessory system, coolant degradation, and increases in the mass of overall system take-off weight [13,14]. In the case of an air-cooled PEMFC stack, a simple cooling system and devices characterised by low levels of power consumption can be implemented, although the resulting efficiency level may be lower than in devices using a liquid cooling medium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Development, and Performance of a 10 kW Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack as Part of a Hybrid Power Source Designed to Supply a Motor Glider

et al. 2020

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A 10 kW PEMFC (polymer exchange membrane fuel cell) stack consisting of two 5 kW modules, (A) and (B), connected in series with a multi-function controller unit was constructed and tested. The electrical performance of the V-shaped PEMFC stack was investigated under constant and variable electrical load. It was found that the PEMFC stack was capable of supplying the required 10 kW of electrical power. An optimised purification process via ‘purge’ or humidification, implemented by means of a short-circuit unit (SCU) control strategy, enabled slightly improved performance. Online monitoring of the utilisation of the hydrogen system was developed and tested during the operation of the stack, especially under variable electrical load. The air-cooling subsystem consisting of a common channel connecting two 5 kW PEMFC modules and two cascade axial fans was designed, manufactured using 3D printing technology, and tested with respect to the electrical performance of the device. The dependence of total partial-pressure drop vs. ratio of air volumetric flow for the integrated PEMFC stack with cooling devices was also determined. An algorithm of stack operation involving thermal, humidity, and energy management was elaborated. The safety operation and fault diagnosis of the PEMFC stack was also tested.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design, Development, and Performance of a 10 kW Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack as Part of a Hybrid Power Source Designed to Supply a Motor Glider

et al. 2020

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“…3,4 Accordingly, in the past decade, the adoption of nanofluids has started as suitable coolants for PEMFC stacks, taking into account the enhancement of electrical conductivity, which should be low to avoid shunt currents. [5][6][7] Leong et al 3 performed experiments to investigate the thermal performance of a car radiator operating with copper/ethylene glycol nanofluids in the turbulent flow regime. They found that a 3.8% enhancement of heat transfer could be achieved by adding 2 vol% of copper nanoparticles to the pure ethylene glycol.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The manufactured FC coolant could maintain the low electrical conductivity for at least two years as well as provide heat transfer effectively compared with the water-based coolant. 7,30 Then, increasing the electrical conductivity is not desirable when applying nanofluids as coolants for many electrical devices, such as PEMFC stacks. The allowable limit of electrical conductivity value with nanofluids applications is 1.5 to 2 μS/cm or and 5 μS/cm at 20 C, that requiring to keep at low values for a long time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a radiator using various nanofluids for automotive PEMFC applications

et al. 2020

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Summary In the past decade, nanofluids have proven effective for heat transfer enhancement of many thermal engineering applications. This is due to their superior thermal performance characteristics compared with conventional coolants. Therefore, the adoption of nanofluids as alternative coolants in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cooling systems is considered a novel technology and a promising contributor to the solution of thermal management problems that are impeding the commercialization of automotive PEMFC engines. In this article, the thermal performance enhancement of a radiator was experimentally investigated through the addition of Zinc oxide (ZnO) and aluminum nitride (AlN) nanoparticles suspended in a 50/50 mixture of water and ethylene glycol (WEG) as the base fluid for automotive PEMFC cooling systems. The nanofluid concentrations of 0.2 wt% and 0.5 wt% from nanoparticles were used, and the inlet temperature range of the nanofluids was 50°C to 80°C. The experimental results indicate that the heat transfer rate and radiator effectiveness were improved with high flow rates of the base fluid and nanofluid. Furthermore, by increasing the mass concentration of nanoparticles, the heat transfer rate, overall heat transfer coefficient, and radiator effectiveness were enhanced. This can be explained by the significant enhancement of thermal conductivity and Brownian motion benefited from nanofluids. Compared with the base fluid, the heat transfer rate increased by 24.3% and 57.7% at concentrations of 0.2 wt% and 0.5 wt% ZnO nanoparticles, respectively, within the considered temperature range. Meanwhile, the AlN/WEG nanofluids enhancements achieved 15.3% and 30.7% at the same concentrations. In conclusion, the use of ZnO nanoparticles is strongly recommended for suspension in the WEG (50/50 v/v) mixture as a proper coolant for better performance of PEMFC‐based engines.

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“…14 The air-cooled PEM systems are classified into two main categories: the active and the passive types. 15,16 The main difference between these two approaches is the way that the air is introduced in the system. In the case where the reactant air (oxygen reduction reaction) and the air for cooling are supplied to the system separately via two different pathways, then the cooling is considered as active.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The heat produced may be removed by dissipation to surroundings, unused reactants or air cooled PEMFC systems 14 . The air‐cooled PEM systems are classified into two main categories: the active and the passive types 15,16 . The main difference between these two approaches is the way that the air is introduced in the system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal characteristics of an air‐cooled open‐cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack via numerical investigation

et al. 2020

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In light of stricter emissions regulations and depleting fossil fuel reserves, fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) are one of the leading alternatives for powering future vehicles. An open-cathode, air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack provides a relatively simple electric generation system for a vehicle in terms of system complexity and number of components. The temperature within a PEMFC stack is critical to its level of performance and the electrochemical efficiency. Previously created computational models to study and predict the stack temperature have been limited in their scale and the inaccurate assumption that temperature is uniform throughout. The present work details the creation of a numerical model to study the temperature distribution of an 80-cell Ballard 1020ACS stack by simulating the cooling airflow across the stack. Using computational fluid dynamics, a steady-state airflow simulation was performed using experimental data to form boundary conditions where possible. Additionally, a parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of the distance between the stack and cooling fan on stack performance. Model validation was performed against published results. The temperature distribution across the stack was identical for the central 70% of the cells, with eccentric temperatures observed at the stack extremities, while the difference between coolant and bipolar plate temperatures was approximately 10 C at the cooling channel outlets. The results of the parametric study showed that the fan-stack distance has a negligible effect on stack performance. The assumptions regarding stack temperature uniformity and measurement were challenged. Lastly, the hypothesis regarding the negligible effect of fan-stack distance on stack performance was confirmed.

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Liquid cooling techniques in proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks: A detailed survey

Cited by 119 publications

References 86 publications

Design, Development, and Performance of a 10 kW Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack as Part of a Hybrid Power Source Designed to Supply a Motor Glider

Design, Development, and Performance of a 10 kW Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack as Part of a Hybrid Power Source Designed to Supply a Motor Glider

Experimental investigation of the thermal performance of a radiator using various nanofluids for automotive PEMFC applications

Thermal characteristics of an air‐cooled open‐cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack via numerical investigation

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