3D transient CFD modelling of a scroll-type hydrogen pump used in FCVs

The scroll pump has a great potential to recirculate hydrogen in a fuel-cell vehicle (FCV) because of its high efficiency, low noise and vibration, reliable operation, and a wide range of adjustable flow. This paper presents three-dimensional transient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of a scroll-type hydrogen pump used in FCVs, including leakage flow through both the radial clearance (RC) and axial clearance (AC). A dynamic mesh was generated for the moving orbiting scroll, and high-quality hexahedral structured grids with sufficient grid-density were applied to the clearances to solve the multi-scale problem. The pressure and velocity fields were obtained at different rotating angles to reveal the dynamic characteristics in the compression chambers. The simulation results showed that the radial leakage through AC has more significant influence on the volumetric efficiency than the tangential leakage through RC, especially on scroll-type hydrogen pumps. The presented modelling and simulation methods were validated experimentally by operating a scroll air compressor at different speeds and pressure ratios. The volumetric efficiency of the scroll pump was 85.39% with 0.02 mm AC and 0.02 mm RC, 81.43% with 0.02 mm AC and 0.04 mm RC, and 70.17% with 0.04 mm AC and 0.02 mm RC. Further, it was found that the performance of scroll-type hydrogen pumps is more sensitive to rotating speed than air scroll pumps under the same conditions. With hydrogen, the volumetric efficiency increased by 30.68% when the rotating speed was increased from 3000 r·min^?1 to 6000 r·min^?1; with air, the volumetric efficiency increased by 12.81%. Therefore, it is necessary to consider both AC and RC in the CFD modelling of scroll machines, particularly in the case of hydrogen scroll pumps.     

Flow field analysis and performance study of claw hydrogen circulating pump in fuel cell system

Hydrogen circulation pump is an important equipment for hydrogen fuel cell system which can recycle the unreacted hydrogen to improve the system efficiency. A mathematical model of claw pump is built and the internal flow field was simulated by dynamic mesh technology. The p-θ diagram is obtained by analyzing the gas flow characteristics. The model is firstly verified by air experiments and then the performance influenced by suction pressure, exhaust pressure, rotating speed, and clearance are analyzed. The volumetric efficiency increased by 22% when the suction pressure increases from 152 kPa to 168 kPa but decreased by 23% when the exhaust pressure increases from 172 kPa to 188 kPa. The volumetric efficiency increased by 26.7% when the rotating speed increases from 4000 rpm to 6000 rpm but decreased by 52.1% when the working clearance increases from 0.03 mm to 0.07 mm. Due to the range of working pressure ratio is small, the indicated efficiency changes slightly.     

Effect of pressure ratio on transient flow in hydrogen circulating pump

The pressure ratio has an important influence on the performance and internal flow characteristics of the positive displacement pump. In this paper, the influence of the four pressure ratios 1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4 on the internal flow characteristics of the hydrogen circulating pump is studied, the internal relationship between the change of pressure ratio and the flow pattern in the pump are clarified, and the leakage flow pattern and its coupling mechanism in each gap are revealed. The results show that the gap leakage flow induced by pressure difference is an important reason for flow disorder in the pump, however, the generation and growth of gap leakage flow will be affected not only by the pressure difference, but also by the shear drive. The scale and influence of axial gap leakage are far greater than the other two types of gap leakage. The existence of gap leakage flow makes the rate of flow and pressure presents a large amplitude high-frequency pulsation characteristic. The research results of this paper provide a reference for the efficient and stable operation of hydrogen circulating pump in fuel cell system.     

Effect of thermal deformation on leakage clearance of claw hydrogen circulating pump for fuel cell system

The leakage clearance have a strong impact on the performance and reliability of hydrogen circulating pump in a fuel cell system, and the thermal deformantion is the most significant factor because of its high working temperature, small size. In this paper, the distribution of leakage clearance with different temperatures and rotors materials is obtained. The radial leakage clearance decreases with the increase of temperature in the working chamber. The axial clearance is increased by about 100  μm at rated working condition. When the material of rotors is aluminum alloy, the minimum radial clearance under rated working condition is about 8.5 μm, and the risk of interference is large. When the material of rotors is structural steel and titanium alloy, the radial clearance is maintained above 30 μm, and the risk of interference is small. The variation of leakage clearance leads to the variation of leakage area. The variation of total leakage clearance first increases and then decreases with the increase of angle. The minimum variation of total leakage area is 6.25  mm² at 0° and the maximum is 7.578  mm² at 84°. The total leakage area increased by 7.144 mm² on average. The results can be used as guidelines for the structural optimization of hydrogen circulating pump.     

Investigation and analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell dynamic response characteristics on hydrogen consumption of fuel cell vehicle

The number of working points and response speed are two essential characteristics of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The improper setting of the number of working points and response speed may reduce the life of PEMFC and increase the hydrogen consumption of the vehicle. This paper explores the impact of the response speed as well as the working points of the PEMFC on the hydrogen consumption in the real-system level. In this paper a dynamic model of the PEMFC system is established and verified by experiments. The model is able to reflect the dynamic response process of PEMFC under a series different number of working points and different response speed. Based on the proposed model, the influence of working points and the response speed of PEMFC on the hydrogen consumption in the vehicle under different driving cycles is analyzed and summarized, for the first time, in the open literature. The results highlight that the hydrogen consumption will decreases in both cases that with the increase of working point number and increase of response speed. However, the reduction range of hydrogen consumption trends to smaller and may reach to an optimal level considering the trade-off between the hydrogen saving and the other costs, for example the control cost. Also, with a more complex driving cycle, the working points and response speed have a greater the impact on the hydrogen consumption in the vehicle applications.     

Flow and transmission characteristics of the multistage hydrogen Knudsen pump in the micro-power system

The multistage hydrogen Knudsen pump based on the thermal transpiration effect has exciting application prospects for hydrogen transport in the micro-power system. The multistage hydrogen Knudsen pump with the silica microchannel is beneficial to its temperature control, which can accurately provide hydrogen transport and storage for the micro-power system. In this paper, the model of the multistage hydrogen Knudsen pump with the silica microchannel is established. The effects of the microchannel height, width and parallel number on the flow and transmission characteristics of the multistage hydrogen Knudsen pump are studied by using the method of N–S equations with the slip boundary. The temperature difference, Knudsen number, thermal transpiration effect, maximum mass flow rate, maximum pressure difference and performance curve under different microchannel parameters are analyzed in detail. The results show that the thermal transpiration effect increases with the microchannel height and decreases with the microchannel width. As the number of parallel microchannels increases, the microchannel is closer to the silicon cantilever, and the thermal transpiration effect becomes stronger. The pumping performance increases with the microchannel height, width and parallel number. The pressurization performance increases with the microchannel height and parallel number. The research results have important guiding significance for the application and design of the multistage hydrogen Knudsen pump in the micro-power system.     

Effect of airbrush type on sprayed platinum and platinum-cobalt catalyst inks: Benchmarking as PEMFC and performance in an electrochemical hydrogen pump

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells and electrochemical hydrogen pumps are based on membrane electrode assemblies containing Pt catalysts. During their preparation, a catalyst ink is usually applied to the gas diffusion layer. Among the available methods, ink spray using an airbrush can be advantageous for making electrodes at universities and companies. This work compares the suitability of gravity-feed and suction-feed airbrushes during the evaluation of in-house developed Pt and Pt–Co catalysts. The surface morphology of the catalyst layers was analysed by SEM and EDS and related to the preparation technique. The catalysts were compared against an off-the-shelf commercial catalyst. The in-house Pt catalyst afforded similar polarisation curves as the commercial catalyst whereas the Pt–Co catalyst exhibited a slightly lower performance. The suction-feed airbrush was deemed preferable because it produced cracked mud-like, homogeneous and smoother catalyst layers in contrast to the gravity-feed method, which resulted in poor-quality deposits with loose particles, lower Pt utilisation and higher resistance.