The effects of buoyancy on the performance of a PEM fuel cell with a wave-like gas flow channel design by numerical investigation

This study performs numerical simulations to investigate the effects of buoyancy on the gas flow characteristics, temperature distribution, electrochemical reaction efficiency and electrical performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with a novel wave-like gas flow channel design. In general, the simulation results show that compared to the straight geometry of a conventional gas flow channel, the wave-like configuration enhances the transport through the porous layer and improves the temperature distribution within the channel. As a result, the PEMFC has an improved fuel utilization efficiency and an enhanced heat transfer performance. It is found that the buoyancy effect increases the velocity of the reactant fuel gases in both the vertical and the horizontal directions. This increases the rate at which the oxygen gas is consumed in the fuel cell but improves the electrical performance of the PEMFC. The results show that compared to the conventional straight gas flow channel, the wave-like gas flow channel increases the output voltage and improves the maximum power density by approximately 39.5%.     

The optimal parameters estimation for rectangular cylinders installed transversely in the flow channel of PEMFC from a three-dimensional PEMFC model and the Taguchi method

The study first applies a three-dimensional model to analyze the cell performance of PEMFCs using rectangular cylinders with various numbers transversely inserted at the axis in the channel, and finds the higher performance with reasonable pressure drop. The Taguchi optimization methodology is then combined with the three-dimensional PEMFC model to determine the optimal combination of five primary operating parameters for the best arrangement of the rectangular cylinders in the channel. The results indicate that the optimal combination factor is a cell temperature of 313 K, an anode humidification temperature of 333 K, a cathode humidification temperature of 333 K, a hydrogen stoichiometric flow ratio of 1.9, and an oxygen stoichiometric flow ratio of 2.7. This study also examines the pressure drop for the channels with rectangular cylinders transversely inserted. Using experimental data verifies the numerical results of the flow field design with rectangular cylinders.     

A parametric comparison of temperature uniformity and energy performance of a PEMFC having serpentine wavy channels

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are regarded as alternative energy sources because they are environment friendly and deliver no harmful emission. As its reliability and power generating efficiency is largely influenced by the temperature distribution, it is necessary to improve the temperature uniformity which is crucial in PEMFCs. To this end, this numerical study presents an attempt to optimize the flow channels via introducing wavy shape flow channels at the ribs. The numerical model is validated by experimental data available in the open literature. Two kinds of wavy shape flow channels are designed while straight flow channel is set as a reference. In the PEMFCs with wavy shape flow channels, the effects of the amplitude and wavelength on the thermal performance are simulated and analyzed. Results show that wavy shape flow channels provide better performance not only for thermal uniformity but also for PEMFC output power and efficiency. With lower amplitude and wavelength of wavy shape flow channels, the power can be promoted up to 3.69% and 7.26% for two kinds of wavy shaped flow channels compared with straight flow channel, respectively. The influences of amplitude and wavelength on the thermal uniformity and the output power are also analyzed. This paper provides a new insight to PEMFC flow channel designers.     

Numerical analysis of effects of gas crossover through membrane pinholes in high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Durability is a major issue in the widespread commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Various failure modes have been identified over their long runtime. These mainly originate from membrane and catalyst layer failures. One of the most common failure modes in PEMFCs is due to pinhole formation in the membrane and resultant reactant gas crossover through the membrane. Gas crossover induces several critical problems in PEMFCs, including severe reactant depletion in the downstream regions, mixed potential at the electrodes, and formation of local hot spots by hydrogen/oxygen catalytic reaction, which indicates that the cell performance decreases with increasing gas crossover. In this study, we numerically investigate the effects of gas crossover on the performance of a high-temperature PEMFC based on a phosphoric-acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane. In contrast to previous gas-crossover studies 1 and 2 in which uniform gas crossover throughout the entire membrane has been simply assumed, our focus is on examining the impacts of localized gas crossover due to membrane pinholes. Numerical simulations are carried out via arbitrarily assuming pinholes in the membrane. The simulation results clearly show that the presence of pinholes in the membrane significantly disrupts the species, current density, and temperature distributions. Our findings may improve the fundamental and detailed understanding of localized gas-crossover phenomena through the membrane pinholes and the influence of these phenomena on high-temperature PEMFC operation.     

Three dimensional numerical simulation of gas-liquid two-phase flow patterns in a polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cells gas flow channel

Water management in polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) has a major impact on fuel cell performance and durability. To investigate the two-phase flow patterns in PEMFC gas flow channels, the volume of fluid (VOF) method was employed to simulate the air-water flow in a 3D cuboid channel with a 1.0 mm × 1.0 mm square cross section and a 100 mm in length. The microstructure of gas diffusion layers (GDLs) was simplified by a number of representative opening pores on the 2D GDL surface. Water was injected from those pores to simulate water generation by the electrochemical reaction at the cathode side. Operating conditions and material properties were selected according to realistic fuel cell operating conditions. The water injection rate was also amplified 10 times, 100 times and 1000 times to study the flow pattern formation and transition in the channel. Simulation results show that, as the flow develops, the flow pattern evolves from corner droplet flow to top wall film flow, then annular flow, and finally slug flow. The total pressure drop increases exponentially with the increase in water volume fraction, which suggests that water accumulation should be avoided to reduce parasitic energy loss. The effect of material wettability was also studied by changing the contact angle of the GDL surface and channel walls, separately. It is shown that using a more hydrophobic GDL surface is helpful to expel water from the GDL surface, but increases the pressure drop. Using a more hydrophilic channel wall reduces the pressure drop, but increases the water residence time and water coverage of the GDL surface.     

The energy performance improvement of a PEM fuel cell with various chaotic flowing channels

To improve the energy performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), novel chaotic structures are proposed and numerically evaluated for replacing straight types in the serpentine gas diffusion flow channels. The numerical model is verified by the available experimental data. Nine cases (chaotic channels, Cases A2, B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2, E1, and E2) and a baseline case (straight flow channel, Case A1) are evaluated, and the detailed temperature and the flow characteristics are presented and analyzed. The influences of the main design parameters including the corner angle, bends number, and datum surface number are also analyzed and concluded. It is found that the newly proposed chaotic structures can improve not only the temperature uniformity, but also the maximum output power and the energy efficiency of the PEMFC. Compared with a traditional PEMFC, the power output of the new PEMFCs with chaotic flowing channels can be improved by 6.26% and the efficiency of PEMFC can be promoted by 8.40%.     

Application of a thermally conductive pyrolytic graphite sheet to thermal management of a PEM fuel cell

This work experimentally investigates the thermal performance of a pyrolytic graphite sheet (PGS) in a single proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). This PGS with high thermal conductivity serves as a heat spreader, reduces the volume and weight of cooling systems, and reduces and homogenizes the temperature in the reaction area of the fuel cells. A transparent PEMFC is constructed with PGS of thickness 0.1 mm cut into the shape of a flow channel and bound with the cathode gas channel plate. Eleven thermocouples are embedded at different positions on the cathode gas channel plate to measure the temperature distribution. The water and water flooding inside the cathode gas channels, with and without PGS, were successfully visualized. The locations of liquid water are correlated with the temperature measurement. PGS reduces the maximum cell temperature and improves cell performance at high cathode flow rates. The temperature distribution is also more uniform in the cell with PGS than in the one without PGS. Results of this study demonstrate the promising application of PGS to the thermal management of a fuel cell system.     

Three-dimensional numerical study on cell performance and transport phenomena of PEM fuel cells with conventional flow fields

In this paper, a three-dimensional numerical model of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with conventional flow field designs (parallel flow field, Z-type flow field, and serpentine flow field) has been established to investigate the performance and transport phenomena in the PEMFCs. The influences of the flow field designs on the fuel utilization, the water removal, and the cell performance of the PEMFC are studied. The distributions of velocity, oxygen mass fraction, current density, liquid water, and pressure with the convention flow fields are presented. For the conventional flow fields, the cell performance can be enhanced by adding the corner number, increasing the flow channel length, and decreasing the flow channel number. The cell performance of the serpentine flow field is the best, followed by the Z-type flow field and then the parallel flow field.     

Three-dimensional multi-phase numerical study for the effect of coolant flow field designs on water and thermal management for the large-scale PEMFCs

The multi-phase numerical study is performed for the large-scale proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) regarding coolant flow field design. In this study, three coolant flow fields were designed to explore the effect of different temperature distributions on the water management of the PEMFCs. The numerical results show that increasing the temperature gradient along the gas flow direction and improving the temperature uniformity perpendicular to the gas flow direction enhances PEMFC performance and makes the liquid water distribution in the gas diffusion layers more reasonable. The co-flow for the cathode gas stream and the coolant flow is beneficial to raise the temperature along the cathode gas flow direction and reduce the risk of flooding near the cathode outlet. Then, it is noted that the coolant flow field design is not necessary to keep the temperature absolutely uniform for the PEMFCs. Although increasing the coolant volume flow rate will reduce the IUT, it dramatically increases the risk of flooding near the cathode outlet. Therefore, the moderate volume flow rate is preferred. Finally, the effect of the coolant manifold on the volume flow rate uniformity in the coolant channels is investigated, and it is found that reducing the number of coolant channels is the best strategy to improve volume flow rate uniformity and thermal management performance.     

不同型式流场的PEMFC内部传质分析

对采用不同型式流场的PEMFC进行建模,并用控制容积法对控制方程进行离散,求解得到PEMFC内部各物理量的分布以及综合水拖带系数、质子交换膜平均电导率等。分析了采用交趾型流场和常规流场时PEMFC的内部传质以及阴极性能、电池性能和膜性能,结果认为采用交趾型流场时,PEMFC阴极性能高于采用常规流场的PEMFC阴极性能,但质子交换膜的平均电导率低于采用常规流场时。在没有液态水产生时常规流场PEMFC性能高于交趾型流场PEMFC。     

1D and 3D numerical simulations in PEM fuel cells

The potential of fuel cells for clean and efficient energy conversion is generally recognized.The proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are one of the most promising types of fuel cells. Models play an important role in fuel cell development since they enable the understanding of the influence of different parameters on the cell performance allowing a systematic simulation, design and optimization of fuel cells systems. In the present work, one-dimensional and three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed and compared with experimental data obtained in a PEM fuel cell. The 1D model, coupling heat and mass transfer effects, was previously developed and validated by the same authors [1] and [2]. The 3D numerical simulations were obtained using the commercial code FLUENT - PEMFC module.The results show that 1D and 3D model simulations considering just one phase for the water flow are similar, with a slightly better accordance for the 1D model exhibiting a substantially lower CPU time. However both numerical results over predict the fuel cell performance while the 3D simulations reproduce very well the experimental data. The effect of the relative humidity of gases and operation temperature on fuel cell performance was also studied both through the comparison of the polarization curves for the 1D and 3D simulations and experimental data and through the analysis of relevant physical parameters such as the water membrane content and the proton conductivity. A polarization curve with the 1D model is obtained with a CPU time around 5 min, while the 3D computing time is around 24 h. The results show that the 1D model can be used to predict optimal operating conditions in PEMFCs and the general trends of the impact on fuel cell performance of several important physical parameters (such as those related to the water management). The use of the 3D numerical simulations is indicated if more detailed predictions are needed namely the spatial distribution and visualization of various relevant parameters.An important conclusion of this work is the demonstration that a simpler model using low CPU has potential to be used in real-time PEMFC simulations.     

Effects of internal flow modification on the cell performance enhancement of a PEM fuel cell

This study presents a numerical investigation on the cell performance enhancement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) using the finite element method (FEM). The cell performance enhancement in this study has been accomplished by the transverse installation of a baffle plate and a rectangular block for the modification of flow pattern in the flow channel of the fuel cell. The baffle plates (various gap ratios, λ = 0.005–10) and the rectangular block (constant gap ratio, λ = 0.2) are installed along the same gas diffusion layer (GDL) in the channel at constant Reynolds number for the purpose of investigating the cell performance. The results show that the transverse installation of a baffle plate and a rectangular block in the fuel flow channel can effectively enhance the local cell performance of a PEMFC. Besides, the effect of a rectangular block on the overall cell performance is more obvious than a baffle plate.     

Effects of the humidity and the land ratio of channel and rib in the serpentine three‐dimensional PEMFC model

The construction of a reliable numerical model and the clarification of its operational conditions are necessary for maximizing fuel cell operation. Numerous operating factors, such as mole fractions of species, pressure distribution, overpotential, and inlet relative humidity, affect the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Among these operational parameters, geometrical shape and relative humidity are investigated in this paper. Specifically, the land ratio of the gas channel and rib is an important parameter affecting PEMFC performance because current density distribution is influenced by this geometrical characteristic. Three main variables determine the current density distribution, namely, species concentration, pressure, and overpotential distributions. These distributions are considered simultaneously in assessing fuel cell performance with a given PEMFC cell‐operating voltage. In this paper, three different land ratio models are considered to obtain better PEMFC performance. Similarly, three different inlet relative humidity variations are studied to achieve an enhanced operating condition. A three‐dimensional numerical PEMFC model is developed to illustrate the current density distribution as the determining factor for PEMFC performance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transient response of a unit proton-exchange membrane fuel cell under various operating conditions

The transient response of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is an important criterion in their application to automotive systems. Nevertheless, few papers have attempted to study experimentally this dynamic behaviour and its causes. Using a large-effective-area (330 cm²) unit PEMFC and a transparent unit PEMFC (25 cm²), systematic transient response and cathode flooding during load changes are investigated. The cell voltage is acquired according to the current density change under a variety of stoichiometry, temperature and humidity conditions, as well as different flooding intensities. In the case of the transparent fuel cell, the cathode gas channel images are obtained simultaneously with a CCD imaging system. The different levels of undershoot occur at the moment of load change under different cathode stoichiometry, both cathode and anode side humidity and flooding intensity conditions. It is shown that undershoot behaviour consists of two stages with different time delays: one is of the order of 1 s and the other is of the order of 10 s. It takes about 1 s for the product water to come up on to the flow channel surface so that oxygen supply is temporarily blocked, which causes voltage loss in that “undershoot”. The correlation of dynamic behaviour with stoichiometry and cathode flooding is analyzed from the results of these experiments.     

Numerical study on heat transfer enhancement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with the dimpled cooling channel

As the power density of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) increases, the problems of internal heat accumulation and non-uniform temperature distribution are becoming significant. In this paper, a novel cooling channel with dimple structures is designed and a three-dimensional PEMFC numerical model is established. When comparing to the conventional channels, the heat transfer performance of dimpled channel is 10% higher than the smooth one, and the pressure loss is almost 13% lower than that of wavy channel. In addition, the optimization of dimple structure parameters is investigated based on the index of uniformity temperature (IUT) and performance evaluation criteria (PEC) of heat transfer. It is found that a diameter-to-depth ratio of 4 is recommended when the dimple diameter is less than 0.80 mm. Furthermore, the clock-wise vortex observed inside the dimple is considered to be the main reason affecting heat exchange. This study will contribute to the design of cooling channels for high-power density PEMFCs in the future.     

Numerical investigation on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with channel position variation

Such factors as mole fractions of species, water generation, and conductivity influence the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The geometrical shape of the fuel cells also should be considered a factor in predicting the performance because this affects the species' reaction speed and distribution. Specifically, the position between the channel and rib is an important factor influencing PEMFC performance because the current density distribution is affected by the channel and rib position. Three main variables that decide the current density distribution are selected in the paper: species concentration, overpotentials, and membrane conductivity. These variables should be considered simultaneously in deciding the current density distribution with the given PEMFC cell voltage. In addition, the inlet relative humidity is another factor affecting current density distribution and membrane conductivity. In this paper, two channel‐to‐rib models, namely, channel‐to‐channel and the channel‐to‐rib, are considered for comparing the PEMFC performance. Thorough performance comparisons between these two models are presented to explain which is better under certain parameters. A three‐dimensional numerical PEMFC model is developed for obtaining the current density distribution. Water transfer mechanism because of electro osmotic drag and concentration diffusion also is presented to explain the PEMFC performance comparison between the two models. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and impact of sandwich wettability structure for gas distribution media on PEM fuel cell performance

Water management is one of the key issues related to the performance, durability and cost of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs); and the wettability of gas distribution media (GDM) is critical to the water management. In this study, a novel design is developed for GDM, referred to as sandwich wettability GDM. After being coated with a silica particle/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) composite, the GDM has superhydrophobic surfaces with a contact angle of 162 ± 2°, but hydrophilic internal pores. Water droplets (10 μl) can roll off the tilted surface of the coated GDM at an angle of 5°, and can also be drawn into the pores of the coated GDM in 10 min when it is horizontal. The surface morphology, roughness and pore structures of GDMs are characterized by profilometry, scanning electron microscopy, and porosimetry. The measured internal pore size of the coated GDM is around 7.1 μm, and shows low energy resistance to gas transport. Performance testing indicates that the PEMFC equipped with sandwich wettability GDMs offers the best performance compared to those with raw GDM (untreated with surface coating), conventional GDM (with microporous layer) coated with PTFE or hydrophilic GDM (coated with silica particles).     

Performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with thermally conductive pyrolytic graphite sheets for thermal management

This work experimentally investigates the effects of the pyrolytic graphite sheets (PGS) on the performance and thermal management of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. These PGS with the features of light weight and high thermal conductivity serve as heat spreaders in the fuel cell stack for the first time to reduce the volume and weight of cooling systems, and homogenizes the temperature in the reaction areas. A PEMFC stack with an active area of 100 cm² and 10 cells in series is constructed and used in this research. Five PGS of thickness 0.1 mm are cut into the shape of flow channels and bound to the central five cathode gas channel plates. Four thermocouples are embedded on the cathode gas channel plates to estimate the temperature variation in the stack. It is shown that the maximum power of the stack increase more than 15% with PGS attached. PGS improve the stack performance and alleviate the flooding problem at low cathode flow rates significantly. Results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of application of PGS to the thermal management of a small-to-medium-sized fuel cell stack.     

Liquid water transport in gas flow channels of PEMFCs: A review on numerical simulations and visualization experiments

Proper water management in gas flow channels of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) necessitates a comprehensive understanding of liquid water generation and motion, which are strongly related to droplet dynamics and flow patterns. Based on existing literature on numerical simulations using Volume of Fluid (VOF) method and Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), this review identifies and analyzes the main factors in detail that affect the droplet dynamics including surface wettability, initial states of liquid water, geometrical structures of channels, and operating conditions. In addition, visualization experiments can effectively compensate for numerical simulations restricted by the limitations of length and time scale. This review focuses on optical photography, which is currently considered as the most convenient and low-cost method and discusses experimental apparatuses, qualitative flow pattern maps, and quantitative information. Finally, strategies for liquid water removal from gas flow channels are extracted to further enhance the performance of low-temperature PEMFCs.     

Temperature distribution on the MEA surface of a PEMFC with serpentine channel flow bed

Knowledge of the temperature distribution on the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) surface and heat transfer processes inside a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is helpful to improvement of cell reliability, durability and performance. The temperature fields on the surface of MEA fixed inside a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with a serpentine channel flow bed were measured by infrared imaging technology under non-humidification conditions. The temperature distributions over the MEA surface under whole channel region were achieved. The experimental results show that the downstream temperatures are higher than the upstream. The hot region on the MEA surface is easy to locate from the infrared temperature image. The mean temperature on the MEA surface and the cell temperature both increase with the current density. Higher current density makes the non-uniformity of temperature distribution on the MEA surface worse. The loading time significantly affects the temperature distribution. Compared with the electrical performance of the cell, the MEA's temperatures need much more time to reach stable. The results indicate that isothermal assumption is not appropriate for a modeling of PEMFCs, and monitoring the temperature of external surface of the flow field plate or end plate cannot supply accurate reference to control the temperatures on MEA surface.