Effects of Applying Brand-New Designs on the Performance of PEM Fuel Cell and Water Flooding Phenomena

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Mechanical Engineering Department, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

2 Tallinn University of Technology, School of Maritime Academy, Tallinna 19, Kuressaare, Estonia

Abstract

Numerous researchers use numerical simulations to precisely recognize the processes before mass production to provide a basic model for optimizing the fuel cell. In this study, we presented brand-new designs for cylindrical PEMFCs in the Three-Dimensional form. We used the Finite Volume Method to simulate the fuel cell processes and established a genuine correspondence between our simulation results and valid outcomes. We introduced innovative designs to increase the performance of cylindrical polymer fuel cells. Then, we examined the effects of progressive developments in cross-section design, the fuel cell structure, the output current densities, and, eventually, the flooding phenomenon. The results revealed the optimum capacity of the cylindrical fuel cell compared with an elliptical cross-section. Due to more extensive transport zones and pressure drop effects, we need to find the optimum cell capacity to pass the reactive regions.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] Ahmadi N., Rezazadeh S., Asgharikia M., Shabahangnia E., Optimization of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Performance by Geometrical Changes, Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering (IJCCE), 36(2): 89-106 (2017).
[2] T.V. Nguyen, “Modeling Two-Phase Flow in the Porous Electrodes of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Using the Interdigitated Flow Fields”, Presented at the 195th Meeting of Electrochemical Society, 4–7 May, Seattle (1999).
[3] Kilic M.S., Korkut S., Hazer B., Electrical Energy Generation from a Novel Polypropylene Grafted Polyethylene Glycol Based Enzymatic Fuel Cell, Analytical Letters., 47(6): 983–995 (2014).
[4] Rezazadeh S., Ahmadi N., Numerical Investigation of Gas Channel Shape Effect on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 37(3): 789-802 (2015).
[5] Ahmadi N., Rezazadeh S., Dadvand A., Mirzaee I., Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Gas Diffusion Layer with Semicircular Prominences on Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance and Species Distribution, Journal of Renewable Energy and Environment, 2(2): 36-46 (2015).
[6] Chang W.R., Hwang J.J., Weng F.B., Chan S.H., Effect of Clamping Pressure on the Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell, Journal of Power Sources, 166(1): 149-154 (2007).
[7] Ahmadi N., Taraghi H., Sadeghiazad M., A Numerical Study of a Three-Dimensional Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) with Parallel and Counter Flow Gas Channels, Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Mechanical Engineering, 39: 309-323 (2015).
[8] Amphlett J.C., Baumert R.M., Mann R.F., Peppley B.A., Roberge P.R., Harris T.J., Performance Modeling of the Ballard Mark IV Solid Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell. I. Empirical Model Development, J. Electrochem. Soc., 142: 9-15 (1995).
[9] Werner C., Busemeyer L., Kallo J., The Impact of Operating Parameters and System Architecture on the Water Management of a Multifunctional PEMFC System, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2015).
[10] Kwon O.-J., Shin H.-S., Cheon S.-H., Oh B.S., A Study of Numerical Analysis for PEMFC Using a Multiphysics Program and Statistical Method, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(35): 11577-11586 (2015).
[11] Lee D., Lim J.W., Nam S., Choi I., Lee D.G., Gasket-Integrated Carbon/Silicone Elastomer Composite Bipolar Plate for High-Temperature PEMFC, Composite Structures, 128: 284-290 (2015).
[12] Uribe F.A., Gottesfeld S., Zawodzinski T.A., Effect of Ammonia as Potential Fuel Impurity on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance, J. Electrochem. Soc., 149: A293-A296 (2002).
[13] Ticianelli E.A., Derouin C.R., Srinivasan S., Localization of Platinum in Low Catalyst Loading Electrodes to Attain High Power Densities in SPE Fuel Cells, J. Electro anal. Chem., 251: 275–295 (1988).
[14] Yao K.Z., Karan K., McAuley K.B., Oosthuizen P., Peppley B., Xie T., A Review of Mathematical Models for Hydrogen and Direct Methanol Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, Fuel Cells, 4(1/2): 3–29 (2004).
[15] Natarajan D., Nguyen T.V., A Two-Dimensional, Two-Phase, Multi-Component, Transient Model for the Cathode of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Using Conventional Gas Distributors, J. Electrochem.Soc., 148(12): A1324–A1335 (2001).
[16] Ahmadi N., Rezazadeh S., Yekani M., Fakouri, A., Mirzaee I., Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Inlet Gases Humidity on Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Performance, Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, 37(1): 1-20 (2013).
[17] Lum K.W., McGuirk J.J., Three-Dimensional Model of a Complete Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell-Model Formulation, Validation, and Parametric Studies, J. Power Source., 143: 103–124 (2005).
[18] Ahmed D.H., Sung H.J., Effects of Channel Geometrical Configuration and Shoulder Width on PEMFC Performance at High Current Density, J. Power Source., 162: 327–339 (2006).
[19] Ahmadi N., Dadvand A., Rezazadeh S., Mirzaee I., Analysis of the Operating Pressure and GDL Geometrical Configuration Effect on PEM Fuel Cell Performance, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 38(8): 2311-2325 (2016).
[20] Ebrahimi S., Roshandel R., Vijayaraghavan K., Power Density Optimization of PEMFC Cathode with Non-Uniform Catalyst Layer by Simplex Method and Numerical Simulation, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41(47): 22260-22273 (2016).‏
[21] Cooper N.J., Santamaria A.D., Becton M.K., Park J.W., Investigation of the Performance Improvement in Decreasing Aspect Ratio Interdigitated Flow Field PEMFCs, Energy Conversion and Management, 136: 307-317 (2017).‏
[22] Yan W.M., Li H.Y., Weng W.C., Transient Mass Transport and Cell Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 107: 646-656 (2017).‏
[23] Liu J.X., Guo H., Ye F., Ma C.F., A Two-Dimensional Analytical Model of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Energy, 119: 299-308 (2017).‏
[24] Ahmadi N., Dadvand A., Mirzaei I., Rezazadeh S., Modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell with Circular and Elliptical Cross‐Section Gas Channels: A Novel Procedure, International Journal of Energy Research, 42(8): 2805-2822 (2018).
[25] Ahmadi N., Rezazadeh S., Dadvand A., Mirzaee I., Modeling of Gas Transport in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Energy, 170(4): 163-179 (2016).
[26] Garau V., Liu H., Kakac S., Two-Dimensional Model for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, AIChE J., 44(11): 2410-2422 (1998).
[27] Meredith R.E., Tobias C.W., Phenomena and Effects of Electrolytic Gas Evolution, “Advances in Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering”, (Tobias, C.W., ed., Interscience Publishers, New York, (1960)).
[28] Byron Bird R., Warren E. Stewart, Edwin N. Lightfoot, “Transport Phenomena”, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, (1960)
[29] Springer T.E., Zawodzinski T.A., Gottesfeld S., Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Model, J. Electrochem. Soc., 138: 334-2342 (1991).
[30] Kuklikovsky A.A., Quasi-3D Modeling of Water Transport in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells,
J. Electrochem. Soc., 150(11): A1432-A1439 (2003).
[31]  Meredith R.E., Tobias C.W., “Advances in Electrochemistry and Electrochemical Engineering 2”, Tobias, C.W. (ed.), Interscience Publishers, New York, (1960). 
[32] Yeo S.W., Eisenberg A., Physical Properties and Super-Molecular Structure of Perfluorinated Ion-Containing (Nafion) Polymers, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 21: 875-898 (1977).
[33] Springer T.E., Zawodinski T.A., Gottesfeld S., Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Model, J. Electrochem. Soc., 136: 2334-2342 (1991).
[34] Wang L., Husar A., Zhou T., Liu H., A Parametric Study of PEM Fuel Cell Performances, J. Hydrog. Energy, 28: 1263-1272 (2003).
[35] Ahmadi N., Kõrgesaar M., Analytical Approach to Investigate the Effect of Gas Channel Draft Angle on the Performance of PEMFC and Species Distribution, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 152: 119529 (2020).
Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Volume 41, Issue 2 - Serial Number 112
February 2022
Pages 618-634

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics