Tailored porosities of the cathode layer for improved polymer electrolyte fuel cell performance

Zlotorowicz, Agnieszka; Jayasayee, Kaushik; Dahl, Paul Inge; Thomassen, Magnus Skinlo; Kjelstrup, Signe

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.04.079

Cited by 35 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Power losses in the FC depend greatly on the current density and the gas transport to the electrodes (Kjelstrup et al, 2010;Zlotorowicz et al, 2015). Losses are evaluated from the polarization curve.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

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: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

et al. 2020

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“…This is of relevance for the treatment of the exhausted air from ventilation systems of buildings. Similar ideas have already led to the proposal of a new improved fuel cell design [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

The Nasal Geometry of the Reindeer Gives Energy-Efficient Respiration

Magnanelli

Wilhelmsen

Acquarone

et al. 2017

Journal of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics

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Reindeer in the arctic region live under very harsh conditions and may face temperatures below 233 K. Therefore, efficient conservation of body heat and water is important for their survival. Alongside their insulating fur, the reindeer nasal mechanism for heat and mass exchange during respiration plays a fundamental role. We present a dynamic model to describe the heat and mass transport that takes place inside the reindeer nose, where we account for the complicated geometrical structure of the subsystems that are part of the nose. The model correctly captures the trend in experimental data for the temperature, heat and water recovery in the reindeer nose during respiration. As a reference case, we model a nose with a simple cylindrical-like geometry, where the total volume and contact area are the same as those determined in the reindeer nose. A comparison of the reindeer nose with the reference case shows that the nose geometry has a large influence on the velocity, temperature and water content of the air inside the nose. For all investigated cases, we find that the total entropy production during a breathing cycle is lower for the reindeer nose than for the reference case. The same trend is observed for the total energy consumption. The reduction in the total entropy production caused by the complicated geometry is higher (up to -20 %) at more extreme ambient conditions, when energy efficiency is presumably more important for the maintenance of energy balance in the animal. In the literature, a hypothesis has been proposed, which states that the most energy-efficient design of a system is characterized by equipartition of the entropy production. In agreement with this hypothesis, we find that the local entropy production during a breathing cycle is significantly more uniform for the reindeer nose than for the reference case. This suggests that natural selection has favored designs that give uniform entropy production when energy efficiency is an issue. Animals living in the harsh arctic climate, such as the reindeer, can therefore serve as inspiration for a novel industrial design with increased efficiency.

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“…The MPL creates close contact with the CL and reduces the water accumulation at the interface between the electrode layer and GDL‐S/MPL . The porosity and pore interconnectivity of the electrodes and MPL/GDL, which can be influenced by the choice and composition of materials and/or by addition of pore formers, determine the effective pathways for the two‐phase flow transport. Neutron imaging has been used as a state‐of‐the‐art technique for visualizing liquid water in operating PEMFCs with a high special resolution .…”

Section: Components Of the Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhanced Water Management in PEMFCs: Perforated Catalyst Layer and Microporous Layers

et al. 2020

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An experimental in situ study wasp erformed to investigate the effects of the catalystl ayer (CL) and cathode microporous layer (MPL c )p erforation on the water management and performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Polymeric pore formers were utilized to produce perforated CL and MPL structures. High-resolutionn eutron tomography was employedt ovisualize the liquid water contentand distribution within differentc omponents of the cell under channel and land regions.T he results revealed that at humid conditions, the perforated layers enhanced the liquid water transport under the channel regions. Moreover, at high current densities, the performance was improved for the cells with perforated layers compared to ab aseline cell with non-perforated layers, owing to reduced mass transport losses.

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Tailored porosities of the cathode layer for improved polymer electrolyte fuel cell performance

Cited by 35 publications

References 28 publications

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Flow Field Patterns for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

The Nasal Geometry of the Reindeer Gives Energy-Efficient Respiration

Enhanced Water Management in PEMFCs: Perforated Catalyst Layer and Microporous Layers

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