Numerical studies on ejector in proton exchange membrane fuel cell system with anodic gas state parameters as design boundary

A comprehensive entrainment performance evaluation system of the ejector was built including four indexes. An ejector's Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was established, and the sensitivity analysis of the entrainment performance to four key geometry parameters of the ejector, namely, the nozzle diameter (D_n), the primary nozzle exit position (NXP), the mixing tube diameter (D_m), and the secondary flow inlet diameter (D_s) was performed. Based on the quantified boundary conditions obtained by the Simulink simulation, the ejector structure was optimized with a new method. It is found that the total recirculation ratio increases but the hydrogen recirculation ratio decreases with the increase of the relative humidity of the secondary flow. The hydrogen recirculation ratio shows a unidirectional increase tendency with the increase of D_s and the decrease of D_n and NXP. The hydrogen recirculation ratio increases firstly and then decreases with the increase of D_m. High hydrogen recirculation ratio with low primary hydrogen flow rate, corresponding to low current operation point of fuel cell system and low sensitiveness to the changing relative humidity are usually incompatible. The hydrogen recirculation ratio with low primary flow rate degrades significantly when D_n increases and D_m is larger than a certain value. The ejector with smaller D_s shows lower sensitiveness to the changes of relative humidity, while the hydrogen recirculation ratio with low primary hydrogen flow rate is not affected badly. When matching with a specific system, it is necessary to balance the ejection performance at low current density operating points and the sensitiveness to the changes of relative humidity in combination with the anodic gas state at each operating point, so as to find the optimal structural parameters. The optimization sequence of structural parameters should follow: D_n is selected firstly, then NXP and D_s are optimized, and finally D_m is chosen.     

Performance of anodic recirculation by a variable flow ejector for a solid oxide fuel cell system under partial loads

An anode gas recycle (AGR) system driven by a variable flow rate ejector was developed for use in small-scale solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems. The partial load conditions were simulated through recycling power generation experiments to clarify the fundamental characteristics of the variable flow ejector by using actual 1 kW-class SOFC equipment at the steady state. We achieved power generation in a range of recirculation ratios under partial load conditions of 62.5%–80% by controlling the recirculation characteristics with the developed ejector by using a needle. Results showed that the recirculation ratio can be controlled in the range of 0.595–0.694 by adjusting the driving energy with the ejector even at a partial load where the fuel gas flow rate of the ejector changes. Furthermore, the effect of the recirculation ratio on SOFC output was discussed based on the results of gas analyses and temperature measurements. As the recirculation ratio increased, the fuel concentration at the SOFC inlet decreased and the water vapor concentration increased. However, the effect of the recirculation ratio on the stack temperature and output power was proposed to be small. In addition, it was confirmed that the operation was performed under safe conditions where no carbon deposition occurred by circulating the steam generated inside the SOFC without an external water supply. Ejector characteristics during power generation experiments were lower than those at room temperature, which indicates that an ejector upstream pressure of approximately 20–170 kPa gauge pressure was required. Variations in the fluid properties of the driver gas in the ejector motive nozzle heated by the hot suction gas were found to degrade the performance of the ejector installed in the SOFC system, as compared with the results of simulation experiments at room temperature. Nevertheless, the recirculation ratio range required for operation could be satisfied by adjusting the flow velocity of the driving gas through needle control.     

Ejector performance influence on a solid oxide fuel cell anodic recirculation system

This work deals with the design and off-design performance evaluation of an anodic recirculation system based on ejector technology for solid oxide fuel cell hybrid applications.The analysis presented here has been divided into three parts: (i) ejector design taking into account all the thermodynamic, fluid dynamic and chemical constraints, such as steam to carbon ratio (two ejector geometries have been considered: constant area mixing section, constant pressure mixing section); (ii) stand-alone ejector design and off-design performance analysis; (iii) influence on the whole hybrid system—SOFC, reformer, anode recirculation-design and off-design performance of the ejector primary flow conditions (hybrid system part-load conditions).     

Evaluation of a variable flow ejector for anode gas circulation in a 50-kW class SOFC

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are highly efficient in terms of converting hydrogen's chemical energy into electrical energy through electrochemical reactions and for generating power in the range of several kW to several tens of kW. A variable flow ejector equipped with an adjustable recirculating flow rate mechanism was designed for this investigation. A prototype was manufactured to control the circulation of anode exhaust gas for a 50-kW class SOFC system. The ejector performance was evaluated using SOFC simulator equipment that simulated the pressure and temperature environment of a 50-kW SOFC system. In the heating simulation experiment, the mass flow rate ratio of the driving gas to the suction gas could be controlled from 3.7 to 5.4 under conditions simulating 100% of the rated load operation and from 4 to 7.5 when simulating 30%–50% of the partial load conditions. A simple heat transfer model for the motive nozzle was used in the ejector analysis, and issues for improving the ejector recirculation performance in the high-temperature field were identified.     

Anode gas recirculation behavior of a fuel ejector in hybrid solid oxide fuel cell systems: Performance evaluation in three operational modes

In this paper, a theoretical model for the performance monitoring and fault detection of fuel ejectors in the hybrid solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system is proposed. The procedures of using the model to analyze ejector properties such as the primary mass flow rate, the secondary mass flow rate, the recirculation ratio and steam to carbon ratio (STCR) are introduced. Based on the model, the anode gas recirculation performances of a hybrid SOFC system are studied under various operating conditions. Results show that the model can be used to evaluate the performance of ejector not only in the critical mode but also in the subcritical and back flow modes, which is especially useful at SOFC off-design operating conditions such as start up, load changes and shut down.     

二维流动模型的喷射器性能分析研究

采用二维轴对称流动模型，计算分析了吸入通道内回流现象、喷射器“恒能力”现象与静压力在轴线上分布情况之间的关系；探讨了工作压力对喷射器性能的影响。结果表明：持续降低出口压力会在混合室内形成激波，喷射因数保持不变；工作压力过高会在混合室内产生壅塞，反而降低喷射因数；吸入压力过低会在喷射器吸入通道内产生回流现象，影响喷射式制冷系统运行的安全性。     

Biohydrogen production from algal biomass (Anabaena sp. PCC 7120) cultivated in airlift photobioreactor

The present study deals with the optimization of pretreatment conditions followed by thermophilic dark fermentative hydrogen production using Anabaena PCC 7120 as substrate by mixed microflora. Different airlift photobioreactors with ratio of area of downcomer and riser (A_d/A_r) in range of 0.4–3.2 were considered. Maximum biomass concentration of 1.63 g L⁻¹ in 9 d under light intensity of 120 μE m⁻² s⁻¹ was observed at A_d/A_r of 1.6. The mixing time of the reactors was inversely proportional to A_d/A_r. Maximal H₂ production was found to be 1600 mL L⁻¹ upon pretreatment with amylase followed by thermophilic fermentation for 24 h compared to other methods like sonication (200 mL L⁻¹), autoclave (600 mL L⁻¹) and HCl treatment (1230 mL L⁻¹). The decrease of pH from 6.5 to 5.0 during fermentation was due to the accumulation of volatile fatty acids. Amylase pretreatment gave higher reducible sugar content of 7.6 g L⁻¹ as compare to other pretreatments. Thermophilic fermentation of pretreated Anabaena biomass by mixed bacterial culture was found suitable for H₂ production.     

Geometric optimization of an ejector for a 4 kW SOFC system with anode off-gas recycle

One of the important energy saving tools used in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system is the anode off-gas recycling (AGR) via an ejector which allows the recirculation of the unused fuels in the anode exhaust gas including hot steam which is essential for the elimination of the carbon deposition and the initiation of the reactions in the reformer. In an ejector system developed for the SOFCs, the steam to carbon ratio (STCR) and entrainment ratio are the crucial parameters for the determination of the ejector performance. These parameters can be engineered by modifying the geometric dimensions and operation conditions. This study focuses on the determination of the maximum STCR value and entrainment ratio via numerical geometric analyses for a micro combined heat and power (μ-CHP) system based on 4 kW SOFC, utilizing methane. A detailed numerical procedure for designing an ejector is provided and the ejector performance is investigated for different critical dimensions (throat diameter, nozzle exit angle and nozzle position etc.). The results show that the nozzle position and the nozzle exit angle significantly affect STCR and the entrainment ratio. When the nozzle position increases and nozzle exit angle decreases, the entrainment ratio and STCR is found to increase. The entrainment ratio and STCR are determined as around 7.3 and 2.7, respectively for a specific design created in the study.     

Experimental and Numerical Analysis on the Internal Flow of Supersonic Ejector Under Different Working Modes

Supersonic ejectors involve very complex phenomena such as interaction between supersonic and subsonic flows, shock trains, instabilities, which strongly influences the performance of supersonic ejector. In this study, the static pressure distribution along the ejector wall and Mach number distribution along the axis are used to investigate the internal flow field of supersonic ejector. Results indicate that when the back pressure is much less than the critical back pressure, there are two series of shock trains, and the change of the back pressure will not affect the flow field before the effective area section, so the entrainment ratio would remain constant. The second shock train moves further upstream and is combined with the first shock train to form a single shock train as the back pressure rises. When the back pressure is greater than the critical back pressure, the position of the shock train, the static pressure at its upstream and the entrainment ratio, will be affected. The “effective area section” in the mixing tube is obtained. The effective area section position moves downstream with the increase of the primary flow pressure, while it moves upstream with the increase of the secondary flow pressure. The entrainment ratio shows inversely proportional relationship with the effective section position. Besides, the first shock train length increases with the increase of primary flow pressure or secondary flow pressure. The critical back pressure represents direct proportional relationship to the first shock train length.     

Lattice Boltzmann modelling of the coupling between charge transport and electrochemical reactions in a solid oxide fuel cell with a patterned anode

A fundamental understanding of the electrochemical reactions and the associated transport processes in electrodes of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is critical to the development of new electrode materials. To date, however, our understanding of the electrode processes is still very limited due to the lack of well-designed experiments and carefully-validated predictive models. To facilitate studies in this area, we have developed a numerical model that has taken into consideration of the coupling between the transport of mobile charged species (e.g., ions and electrons) in conducting phases and the electrochemical reactions at the three phase boundaries of an SOFC anode. The validity of this model has been confirmed by the electrochemical performance of test cells with a patterned anode consisting of well-defined electronic and ionic conducting phases. The model is then applied to quantifying the factors that critically influence the performance of a patterned anode, resulting in three key dimensionless parameters governing the coupling of transport and reactions in the anode: the ratio of electronic-to-ionic conductivity (σ_el/σ_ion), the dimensionless exchange current density (i_ex/i₀), and the dimensionless electric potential (Fϕ₀/RT). In particular, it is found that only i_ex/i₀ and Fϕ₀/RT play a significant role under typical SOFC operating conditions: anode performance increases with the increase in i_ex/i₀ and Fϕ₀/RT. Accordingly, we have constructed a phase map to demonstrate the combined effect of i_ex/i₀ and Fϕ₀/RT, which is helpful for rational design and operation of SOFC patterned electrodes of different materials and geometries. More importantly, our present model is also applicable to the study of actual porous SOFC electrodes with known 3D microstructures.     

Thermodynamic assessment of solid oxide fuel cell system integrated with bioethanol purification unit

A solid oxide fuel cell system integrated with a distillation column (SOFC–DIS) has been proposed in this article. The integrated SOFC system consists of a distillation column, an EtOH/H₂O heater, an air heater, an anode preheater, a reformer, an SOFC stack and an afterburner. Bioethanol with 5 mol% ethanol was purified in a distillation column to obtain a desired concentration necessary for SOFC operation. The SOFC stack was operated under isothermal conditions. The heat generated from the stack and the afterburner was supplied to the reformer and three heaters. The net remaining heat from the SOFC system (Q_SOFC,Net) was then provided to the reboiler of the distillation column. The effects of fuel utilization and operating voltage on the net energy (Q_Net), which equals Q_SOFC,Net minus the distillation energy (Q_D), were examined. It was found that the system could become more energy sufficient when operating at lower fuel utilization or lower voltage but at the expense of less electricity produced. Moreover, it was found that there were some operating conditions, which yielded Q_Net of zero. At this point, the integrated system provides the maximum electrical power without requiring an additional heat source. The effects of ethanol concentration and ethanol recovery on the electrical performance at zero Q_Net for different fuel utilizations were investigated. With the appropriate operating conditions (e.g. C_EtOH = 41%, U_f = 80% and EtOH recovery = 80%), the overall electrical efficiency and power density are 33.3% (LHV) and 0.32 W cm⁻², respectively.     

Anode recirculation behavior of a solid oxide fuel cell system: A safety analysis and a performance optimization

Anode recirculation, which is generally driven by an ejector, is commonly used in solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) systems that operate with natural gas. Alternative fuels such as gasification syngas from biomass have been proposed for potential use in the SOFC systems because of the fuel flexibility of SOFCs and the sustainability of biomass resources. Because the ejector was initially designed to use natural gas, its recirculation behavior when using alternative fuels is not well understood. The aim of this research work is to study anode recirculation behavior and analyze its effect on safety issues regarding carbon deposition and nickel oxidation and the performance of an SOFC system fed with gasification syngas under steady state operation. We developed a detailed model including a recirculation model and an SOFC stack model for this study, which was well validated by experimental data. The results show that the entrainment ratio with the gasification syngas is much smaller than that with the natural gas, and the gasification syngas does not have the tendency toward carbon deposition or nickel oxidation under the operating conditions studied. In addition, the recirculation affects the performance of the SOFC, especially the net electrical efficiency, which could be promoted by 160%.     

Performance simulation of current/voltage-characteristics for SOFC single cell by means of detailed impedance analysis

We present a zero dimensional stationary model which precisely predicts the current-voltage-characteristics of anode supported SOFC single cells over a wide range of operating conditions. The different kinds of electrode polarization resistances are separated from experimental impedance data by means of a detailed equivalent circuit model developed specifically for the analyzed cell type. The activation losses are modeled by the Butler-Volmer equation, whereas the loss contributions from gas diffusion polarizations are calculated from Fick's law. The partial pressure and temperature dependency of the cathodic and anodic exchange current density could be determined by a fit of semi empirical power law model equations. The exponents c and d for the CO and CO₂ partial pressure dependency of the anodic exchange current density are determined independently of each other. This paper presents the modeling results for a wide range of operation parameters as well as their experimental verification.     

Transient characteristics investigation of the integrated ejector-driven hydrogen recirculation by multi-component CFD simulation

The hydrogen supply of the fuel cell system is realized by the cooperation of multiple components. Transient characteristics of a single component can affect the performance of other components. In this study, a three-dimensional multi-component computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to investigate the synergistic transient characteristics of the hydrogen recirculation components such as hydrogen injector, ejector, and purge valve in an 80 kW PEMFC. The results show that the entrainment performance of the ejector is reduced under unsteady purge conditions compared with steady conditions. The pressure fluctuation of the secondary flow is significant even under purge closed durations. There are drastic changes in velocity and pressure in the ejector, especially in the mixing chamber. Moreover, an abundant hydrogen supply capacity of the injector is necessary to deal with the excessive anode pressure fluctuation. The feedforward-feedback integrated control of the injector is a more efficient strategy to reduce pressure fluctuations compared with the feedback control.     

Phase change characteristics and their effect on the performance of hydrogen recirculation ejectors for PEMFC systems

The working fluid of the hydrogen recirculation ejector in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems is humid hydrogen containing water vapour. However, previous studies on the hydrogen recirculation ejector using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were based on the single-phase flow model without considering the phase change of water vapour. In this study, the characteristics of the phase change and its effect on the ejector performance are analysed according to a two-phase CFD model. The model is established based on a non-equilibrium condensation phase change. The results show that the average deviation of the entrainment ratio predicted by a single-phase flow model is 25.8% compared with experiments involving a hydrogen recirculation ejector, which is higher than the 15.1% predicted by the two-phase flow model. It can be determined that droplet nucleation occurs at the junction of the primary and secondary flow, with the maximum nucleation rate reaching 4.0 × 10²⁰ m^?3s^?1 at a primary flow pressure of 5.0 bar. The higher temperature, lower velocity, and higher pressure of the gas phase can be found in the mixing region due to condensation, resulting in a lower entrainment performance. The nucleation rate, droplet number, and liquid mass fraction increase remarkably with an increasing primary flow pressure. This study provides a meaningful reference for understanding phase change characteristics and two-phase flow behaviour in hydrogen recirculation ejectors for PEMFC systems.     

A parametric comparison of three fuel recirculation system in the closed loop fuel supply system of PEM fuel cell

Anodic fuel recirculation system has a significant role on the parasitic power of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In this paper, different fuel supply systems for a PEMFC including a mechanical compressor, an ejector and an electrochemical pump are evaluated. Furthermore, the performances of ejector and electrochemical pump are studied at different operating conditions including operating temperature of 333 K–353 K, operating pressure of 2 bar–4 bar, relative humidity of 20%–100%, stack cells number from 150 to 400 and PEMFC active area of 0.03 m²–0.1 m². The results reveal that higher temperature of PEMFC leads to lower power consumption of the electrochemical pump, because activation over-potential of electrochemical pump decreases at higher temperatures. Moreover, higher operating temperature and pressure of PEMFC leads to higher stoichiometric ratio and hydrogen recirculation ratio because the motive flow energy in ejector enhances. In addition, the recirculation ratio and hydrogen stoichiometric ratio increase, almost linearly, with increase of anodic relative humidity. Utilization of mechanical compressor leads to lower system efficiency than other fuel recirculating devices due to more power consumption. Utilization of electrochemical pump in anodic recirculation system is a promising alternative to ejector due to lower noise level, better controllability and wide range of operating conditions.     

Heat transfer behavior in a rotating aluminum foam heat sink with a circular impinging jet

This work experimentally studied heat transfer associated with an impinging jet onto a rotating heat sink. Air was used as the impinging coolant, and a square Al-foam heat sink was adopted. The variable parameters were the jet Reynolds number (Re), the relative nozzle-to-foam tip distance (C/d), the rotational Reynolds number (Re_r) and the relative side length of the square heat sink (L/d). The effects of Re, C/d, Re_r and L/d on the dimensionless temperature distributions and the average Nusselt number were considered. For a stationary system, the results reveal that the average Nusselt number (Nu₀) with Al-foam was two to three times that without Al-foam. Nu₀ increased with Re. A larger L/d responded to a larger Nu₀ based on the same jet flow rate. The effect of C/d on Nu₀ was negligible herein. For a rotating system, when Re and L/d were small and C/d was large, the average Nusselt number (Nu_Ω) increased considerably with Re_r. Additionally, for Nu_Ω/Nu₀ ? 1.1, the results suggest that rotation was substantial at Re_r/Re ? 1.13 when L/d = 4.615 with C/d = 0–5 and at Re_r/Re ? 1.07 when L/d = 3.0 with C/d = 0–5. For L/d = 2.222, rotation was substantial at Re_r/Re ? 1.44 when C/d = 0 and was always substantial when C/d ? 1.     

New theoretical model for convergent nozzle ejector in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell system

A new theoretical model for the convergent nozzle ejector in the anode recirculation line of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell system is established in this paper. A velocity function for analyzing the flow characteristics of the PEM ejector is proposed by employing a two-dimensional (2D) concave exponential curve. This treatment of velocity is an improvement compared to the conventional 1D “constant area mixing” or “constant pressure mixing” ejector theories. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique together with the data regression and parameter identification methods are applied in the determination of the velocity function's exponent. Based on the model, the anode recirculation performances of a hybrid PEM system are studied under various stack currents. Results show that the model is capable of evaluating the performance of ejector in both the critical mode and subcritical mode.     

Nickel volatilization phenomenon on the Ni-CGO anode in a cathode-supported SOFC operated at low concentrations of H2

Rapid degradation phenomenon is generally occurred when Ni-based anode on a cathode-supported SOFC is operated in low concentrations of hydrogen at high current density. In order to clarify this phenomenon, homogenous NiO-Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O_1.9 (CGO) composites powder with fixed weight ratio of Ni:Ce was synthesized using a nitric-citrate sol-gel method, and coated on LSM-CGO cathode-supported SOFC using slurry coating method. As-prepared fuel cells exhibited good performance when they were operated at pure H₂. However, rapid degradation phenomenon on Ni-CGO anode usually happened when low concentration of H₂ was used as fuel at high current density. Obvious microstructure damage and sintering of Ni were observed in SEM micrographs of Ni-CGO anode after repeated degradation process in 5.66% of H₂ at high current density. Furthermore, the decrease in Ni amount in Ni-CGO anode was also found via EDX analysis when this degradation process was repeated for several times. It is inferred that the volatilization of nickel hydroxide should happen at triple-phase boundaries of Ni-CGO anode when high partial pressure ratio of H₂O and H₂ appeared in this case.     

Mixing of confined coaxial flows

The paper presents experimental results on the mixing process in a coaxial jet mixer in two mixing regimes. In the first mixing regime, a recirculation zone develops just behind a nozzle near mixer walls, while in the second regime a jet is mixed with the co-flow without developing a recirculation zone. In the both regimes, the mixing process is studied at Re_d = 10 000. Behind the nozzle over the range 0.1 < x/D < 9.1, a velocity field in mixer cross-sections is measured by a one-component laser Doppler velocity meter and a scalar field is detected by the laser image fluorescence (LIF) method. A transverse autocorrelation function, integral length scales and probability density functions (PDF) are calculated using instantaneous distributions of a scalar and its fluctuations. It is shown that the scalar field acquires a homogeneous state faster than the velocity one. A quasi-uniform scalar distribution over the mixer cross-section is completed at the distance x/D = 5.1 in the first mixing regime, while this distribution has not been yet attained in the second. Analysis of the turbulent statistical moments and the autocorrelation function reveals how unsteady vortex structures exert a dramatic influence on the mixing. When the recirculation zone has developed, long-period antiphase oscillations exist near the mixer walls.