Performance characteristics and internal phenomena of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with porous flow field

Tabe, Yutaka; Nasu, Takuya; Morioka, Satoshi; Chikahisa, Takemi

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.03.047

Cited by 34 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The porous materials provide better drainage of the condensed water that is advantageous at high current densities (Tabe et al, 2013;Kozakai et al, 2016), and more uniform reactant gas distribution compared to the FFPs with channels (Hontañón et al, 2000). The foams, meshes and fibrous porous materials have been tested as candidates for the FFP (Kumar and Reddy, 2003b;Tang et al, 2010).…”

Section: Porous Type Ffpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

et al. 2020

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Flow field designs for the bipolar plates of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell are reviewed; including the serpentine, parallel, interdigitated, mesh type or their mixtures, furthermore 2D circular and 3D tubular geometries, porous, fractal, and biomimetic flow fields. The advantages/disadvantages and tendencies from field optimizations are discussed. The performance of each flow field design is compared to the conventional serpentine flow field. Good flow field plates give uniform gas distributions, low pressure drop for transport, and sufficient rib area to provide high electronic conductivity. A good field should also prevent water condensation, remove water efficiently, and provide sufficiently high moisture content in the membrane. The demands on design are sometimes contradictory. Future work should aim for a flow field geometry and topology that produces uniform gas delivery at a low pressure-drop, and at the same time has an optimal channel shape for better water removal. It is concluded that for an area-filling gas distributor, the developments should aim to find a flow field in accordance with minimum entropy production, making an emphasis on multi-criteria optimization methods.

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Section: Porous Type Ffpsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

et al. 2020

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“…As of present, the reported flow fields which have been conceived for application in the field of fuel cells are numerous. Some of the options include serpentine, parallel, pin-type, integrated, spiral, bio-inspired and porous flow fields [15][16][17][18][19]. A particular geometry possesses a number of parameters such as channel width, depth, the shape of cross-section, the number of turns/channels, taper ratios, and path length [20][21][22][23][24].…”

Section: Porositymentioning

confidence: 99%

A new modified-serpentine flow field for application in high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell

et al. 2017

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Flow field design for the distribution of reactants and products on the electrode surface plays an important role in the overall performance of the fuel cell. It acts as a crucial factor when the laboratory scale fuel cell is scaled up for commercial applications. In the present work, a novel flow field design is proposed and its usefulness for the fuel cell applications are evaluated in a high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The proposed geometry retains some of the features of serpentine flow field such as multiple bends, while modifications are made in its inplane flow path to achieve comparatively uniform reactant and product distribution. A threedimensional CFD model is developed to analyze the effectiveness of the proposed flow field. An HT-PEFC is fabricated and experimented with the proposed flow field for experimental validation. Furthermore, a low-cost current distribution mapping device is developed to validate the current density distribution on the electrode obtained from the CFD model. It exhibits a mismatch of 4% in the spatial distribution of current density between the modelling and experimental results. The proposed design is capable of achieving higher uniformity in current distribution across the active area (0.998 for modified serpentine and 0.96 serpentine) compared to serpentine flow field. This aids in boosting the current density of the cell by 27% at 0.57 V operations.

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“…Recent studies have used metal foam as fuel cell flow fields to improve the PEFC performance, especially in terms of gas distribution and water management [32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]. These studies have shown that the properties of metal foam, including high porosity, low permeability, and high tortuosity [33,40], homogenize the flow distribution and improve water management.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells with Nonhumidification Using Metal Foam in Dead-Ended Operation

Kim

Sohn

2020

Energies

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Portable power sources have attracted increasing interest and attention, with a focus on the reduction of the system volume. Thus, portable power sources often use polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) systems with dead-ended operation—which are simpler and more fuel-efficient than conventional PEFC systems. In these systems, the fuel may be supplied under nonhumidified conditions to minimize the balance of plant (BOP). In recent studies, metal foams have been used as flow fields to improve fuel diffusion and water management in the PEFC; the performance can be compared to that of a conventional channel. This study compared the performance and water management ability of channel and metal foam flow fields under nonhumidified conditions with dead-ended operation. The results demonstrate that the average output was similar for both flow fields. In terms of fuel efficiency, the PEFC with the metal foam could be operated for a significantly longer time without purging than that with the channel.

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Performance characteristics and internal phenomena of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with porous flow field

Cited by 34 publications

References 14 publications

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

A new modified-serpentine flow field for application in high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell

Study on Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells with Nonhumidification Using Metal Foam in Dead-Ended Operation

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