蛇形流场结构质子交换膜燃料电池的性能研究

建立包括催化层、扩散层、质子膜在内的三维质子交换膜燃料电池模型,通过Fluent软件模拟4种不同结构的蛇形流场,通过对速度、膜中水含量以及功率密度等分析得出蛇形流场的最优结构,并对最优结构进行参数优化。研究表明,4种不同蛇形流场结构中,Multi-serpentine II为最优,随着温度、压强的增加,这种流场结构的燃料电池呈现出良好的性能,从而为质子交换膜燃料电池双极板的设计提供依据。     

Experiment and simulation investigations for effects of flow channel patterns on the PEMFC performance

Experiments and simulations are presented in this paper to investigate the effects of flow channel patterns on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The experiments are conducted in the Fuel Cell Center of Yuan Ze University and the simulations are performed by way of a three‐dimensional full‐cell computational fluid dynamics model. The flow channel patterns adopted in this study include the parallel and serpentine flow channels with the single path of uniform depth and four paths of step‐wise depth, respectively. Experimental measurements show that the performance (i.e. cell voltage) of PEMFC with the serpentine flow channel is superior to that with the parallel flow channel, which is precisely captured by the present simulation model. For the parallel flow channel, different depth patterns of flow channel have a strong influence on the PEMFC performance. However, this effect is insignificant for the serpentine flow channel. In addition, the calculated results obtained by the present model show satisfactory agreement with the experimental data for the PEMFC performance under different flow channel patterns. These validations reveal that this simulation model can supplement the useful and localized information for the PEMFC with confidence, which cannot be obtained from the experimental data. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical investigation on the performance of PEMFC with rib-like flow channels

An innovative flow channel inspired by the physical structure of the human rib was developed in this paper. The performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with the proposed rib-like flow channels under different flow patterns and relative humidity of anode (RH_a) was investigated. Compared with the conventional interdigitated flow channel (CIFC) and cross-flow channel (CRFC), the maximum current density of the counter-flow channel (COFC) was 1.06 A/cm² at 0.4 V, with enhancements of 4.95% and 2.91%, respectively. In addition, the quantity referred to as non-uniformity N was introduced to quantify the concentration distribution of oxygen, the minimum non-uniformity N of 0.17 was obtained for CRFC, and the COFC exhibited a more uniform concentration distribution of temperature as compared with the CIFC and CRFC, indicating that the COFC would prevent the occurrence of local hot spots. The maximum net power density of COFC was 6.0% and 3.0% higher than that of the CIFC and CRFC. Finally, the maximum current density of RH_a = 30% was 1.06 A/cm², which was 3.9% and 7.1% higher than that of RH_a = 60% and RH_a = 100%. The temperature with RH_a = 100% was more uniform in comparison with RH_a = 30% and RH_a = 60%, and the mass fraction of H₂ decreased with the increase of values of RH_a. The proposed rib-like flow channel can further enrich PEMFC flow channel design and afford novel insights into the application of bionics in fuel cells.     

Numerical investigation on the characteristics of mass transport and performance of PEMFC with baffle plates installed in the flow channel

A 3D numerical model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with the installation of baffle plates is developed. The majority of the conservation equations and physical parameters are implemented through the user defined functions (UDFs) in the FLUENT software. The characteristics of mass transport and performance of PEMFC are investigated. The results reveal that the baffle plate can enhance the mass transport efficiency and the performance of PEMFC. The baffle plate installed in the PEMFC flow channel increases the local gas velocity, which can promote the reactant gas transport and the liquid water removal in the porous electrode. As a result, the reactant gas concentration is larger in the porous electrode, which enhances the fuel cell performance for decreasing the over-potential of concentration. The fuel cell output power increases with the blockage ratio of the baffle plate. Considering the extra pumping power resulted from pressure loss caused by the baffle plate, the fuel cell with the blockage ratio of 0.8 is found to perform best in terms of the fuel cell net power generation. The fuel cell performance increases first with the baffle plate number, due to the better reactant distribution and water management, but decreases when the baffle plate number is too large, due to the excessive blockage for the reactant gas transport to the channel downstream. The PEMFC investigated with 5 baffle plates in the channel is found to be optimal. A channel design to achieve gradually increasing blockage ratios is also proposed, which exhibits better cell performance than the design with even blockage ratios.     

The impact of flow field pattern on concentration and performance in PEMFC

In this study, we present a rigorous mathematical model, to treat prediction and analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cells gas concentration and current density distribution in mass transfer area and chemical reaction area performed in 3‐D geometry. The model is based on the solution of the conservation equations of mass, momentum, species, and electric current in a fully integrated finite‐volume solver using the CFDRC commercial code. The influences of fuel cell performance with two kinds of flow channel pattern design are studied. The gas concentration of the straight flow pattern appears excessively non‐uniform, resulting in a local concentration polarization. On the other hand, the gas concentration is well distributed for the serpentine flow pattern, creating a better mass transfer phenomena. The performance curves (polarization curves) are also well correlated with experimental data. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

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.     

Effects of operating parameters on transport phenomena and cell performance of PEM fuel cells with conventional and contracted flow field designs

A contracted parallel flow field design was developed to improve fuel cell performance compared with the conventional parallel flow field design. A three-dimensional model was used to compare the cell performance for both designs. The effects of the cathode reactant inlet velocity and cathode reactant inlet relative humidity on the cell performance for both designs were also investigated. For operating voltages greater than 0.7 V because the electrochemical reaction rates are lower with less oxygen consumption and less liquid water production, the cell performance is independent of the flow field designs and operating parameters. However, for lower operating voltages where the electrochemical reaction rates gradually increase, the oxygen transport and the liquid water removal efficiency differ for the various flow field designs and operating parameters; therefore, the cell performance is strongly dependent on both the design and operating parameters. For lower operating voltages, the cell performance for the contracted design is better than for the conventional design because the reactant flow velocities in the contracted region significantly increase, which enhances liquid water removal and reduces the oxygen transport resistance. For lower operating voltages, as the cathode reactant inlet velocity increases and the cathode reactant inlet relative humidity decreases, the cell performance for both designs improves.     

Analyze the effects of flow mode and humidity on PEMFC performance by equivalent membrane conductivity

A three‐dimensional and two‐phase numerical model is developed for a 25‐cm² proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) to investigate the effects of flow mode (coflow and counterflow) and relative humidity (anode 0%/100%; cathode 60%/100%) on the cell performance. Experimental studies are performed to validate this developed model. An equivalent membrane conductivity is proposed to describe the match level between current flux and membrane conductivity. It is found that the cell performance is enhanced under low relative humidity conditions because of the optimized equivalent membrane conductivity. More specifically, the voltage is improved from 0.611 to 0.637 V, and the equivalent membrane conductivity is enhanced from 10.35 to 11.11 S m^?1 by replacing the coflow mode with counterflow mode at 1000 mA cm^?2 when anode gas is dry and cathode gas is 100% hydrated. Both the anode and cathode relative humidities show an obvious influence on the PEMFC performance, and a suitable inlet humidity could ensure adequate hydration of membrane and avoid water flooding in gas diffusion layers simultaneously.     

Development of a novel radial cathode flow field for PEMFC

This paper presents an innovative radial flow field design for PEMFC cathode flow plates. This new design, which is in the form of a radial flow field, replaces the standard rectangular flow channels in exchange for a set of flow control rings. The control rings allow for better flow distribution and use of the active area. The radial field constructed of aluminum and plated with gold for superior surface and conductive properties. This material was selected based on the results obtained from the performance of the standard flow channels of serpentine and parallel designs constructed of hydrophilic gold and typical hydrophobic graphite materials. It is shown that the new flow field design performs significantly better compared to the current standard parallel channels in a dry-air-flow environment. The polarization curves for a dry flow, however, show excessive membrane drying with the radial design. Humidifying the air flow improves the membrane hydration, and in the meantime, the fuel cell with the innovative radial flow field produces higher current compared to other channel designs, even the serpentine flow field. The water removal and mass transport capacity of the radial flow field was proven to be better than parallel and serpentine designs. This performance increase was achieved while maintaining the pressure drop nearly half of the pressure drop measured in the serpentine flow field.     

Influence of sloping baffle plates on the mass transport and performance of PEMFC

Sloping baffle plates are installed numerically in the flow channel of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) to promote the mass transport in the porous electrode and the fuel cell performance. The sloping angle of baffle plate on the mass transport and performance of PEMFC are investigated and optimized. The numerical results show that the sloping angle of baffle plate influences the velocity distribution, flow resistance in the flow channel, and the intensity of mass transport between the channel and porous electrode. Larger sloping angle increases the velocity in the vertical direction which brings stronger squeeze effect between the channel and porous electrode, but it also reduces the squeeze area and increases the flow resistance. An optimization for the sloping angle of baffle plate is carried out. The baffle plate with the sloping angle of 45° shows the best performance in PEMFC net power considering the pumping power caused by the pressure loss. The effect of the baffle plate number is also investigated and optimized. The fuel cell current density increases with the baffle plate number, but the increment rate is decreased. The pumping power increases almost linearly with the baffle plate number. The PEMFC with six sloping baffle plates installed in the channel is found to be optimal in terms of the net power.     

Performance improvement of a PEMFC system controlling the cathode outlet air flow

This paper presents a stationary and dynamic study of the advantages of using a regulating valve for the cathode outlet flow in combination with the compressor motor voltage as manipulated variables in a fuel cell system. At a given load current, the cathode input and output flowrate determine the cathode pressure and stoichiometry, and consequently determine the oxygen partial pressure, the generated voltage and the compressor power consumption. In order to maintain a high efficiency during operation, the cathode output regulating valve has to be adjusted to the operating conditions, specially marked by the current drawn from the stack. Besides, the appropriate valve manipulation produces an improvement in the transient response of the system. The influence of this input variable is exploited by implementing a predictive control strategy based on dynamic matrix control (DMC), using the compressor voltage and the cathode output regulating valve as manipulated variables. The objectives of this control strategy are to regulate both the fuel cell voltage and oxygen excess ratio in the cathode, and thus, to improve the system performance. All the simulation results have been obtained using the MATLAB-Simulink environment.     

Performance investigation on a novel 3D wave flow channel design for PEMFC

Flow field structure can largely determine the output performance of Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Excellent channel configuration accelerates electrochemical reactions in the catalytic layer, effectively avoiding flooding on the cathode side. In present study, a three-dimensional, multi-phase model of PEMFC with a 3D wave flow channel is established. CFD method is applied to optimize the geometry constructions of three-dimensional wave flow channels. The results reveal that 3D wave flow channel is overall better than straight channel in promoting reactant gases transport, removing liquid water accumulated in microporous layer and avoiding thermal stress concentration in the membrane. Moreover, results show the optimal flow channel minimum depth and wave length of the 3D wave flow channel are 0.45 mm and 2 mm, respectively. Due to the periodic geometric characteristics of the wave channel, the convective mass transfer is introduced, improving gas flow rate in through-plane direction. Furthermore, when the cell output voltage is 0.4 V, the current density in the novel channel is 23.8% higher than that of conventional channel.     

Numerical investigation on the effect of flow field and landing to channel ratio on the performance of PEMFC

Three-dimensional numerical investigation of PEMFC with landing to channel ratio (L:C) of 2:2 for 25-cm² serpentine-parallel channel has been simulated, and the obtained results have been validated with the polarization curve obtained through experiments. It is found that the maximum error in the polarization curve is less than 4%, and thus a very good deal exists between the simulation study and experimentation. Upon validation, the study has been extended for various flow path designs with different L:C ratio numerically. The prediction reveals that the L:C ratio of 2:2 exhibits the better performance for all the flow channels considered, and it is found that the straight-zigzag flow field with L:C ratio of 2:2 attributes the maximum power density of 0.3250 W/cm² for an optimum open circuit voltage of 0.4 Volts with minimal pressure drop. Oxygen consumption in the cathode flow channels of serpentine-parallel, serpentine-zigzag, and straight-parallel are 77.08%, 10.41%, and 42.70% lesser than that of straight-zigzag PEMFC, respectively. The pressure drop in the flow channel of serpentine-parallel, serpentine-zigzag, and straight-parallel with landing to channel ratio 2:2 are 78.18%, 95.81%, and 48.33% higher than that of straight-zigzag flow field, respectively. The polarization curve, hydrogen (H₂), oxygen (O₂), water content along the flow channel and the proton conductivity, H₂O content across the membrane electrolyte, and current density contour at the GDL/catalyst interface of the anode side for all flow channel configurations have been presented and discussed.     

Customized design for the ejector to recirculate a humidified hydrogen fuel in a submarine PEMFC

The customized design of an anode recirculation system that uses an ejector based on the humidified hydrogen is proposed for a submarine PEMFC. Generally, the ejector is useful to enhance its system performance and to easily be operated and maintained since it does not require any parasitic power and has very simple structure. However, the existing commercial ejectors do not meet the practical operating requirements of the PEMFC system with the humidified hydrogen recirculation since the included water raises the ejector performance reduction and accompanying operating limits. The subsonic flow ejector designed by the proposed approach has met the desired entrainment ratio through the whole operating range of the target system as well as it allows the additional advantages to improve the system efficiency and simplicity and to overcome the conventional operating limits.     

Influence of PEMFC gas flow configuration on performance and water distribution studied by SANS: Evidence of the effect of gravity

A non intrusive method based on small angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been developed to determine the water concentration profile through the thickness of Nafion^® 117 membrane during fuel cell operation. This technique was used to study the effect of gas flow configuration, co- or counter-flow, on water repartition within the fuel cell both within and outside the membrane. As it has been reported previously in the literature the counter-flow configuration gives better performance than co-flow but more surprisingly we evidence a significant difference in performance between symmetric configurations either in co- or counter-flow. Indeed, for a given current density, cell voltage is higher when the cathode inlet is at the bottom of the cell. We demonstrate that the gravity retains liquid water within the cell which leads to a better membrane hydration. Moreover, we have been able to correlate the average water content within the membrane with the performance and especially with the voltage drop resulting from the membrane resistance.     

Experimental analysis of cathode flow stoichiometry on the electrical performance of a PEMFC stack

The paper describes an experimental analysis on the effect of cathode flow stoichiometry on the electrical performance of a PEMFC stack. The electrical power output of a PEMFC stack is influenced by several independent variables (factors). In order to analyse their reciprocal influence, an experimental design methodology was adopted in a previous experimental session, to determine which factors deserve particular attention. In this work, a further experimental analysis has been carried out on a very significant factor: cathode stoichiometry. Its effects on the electrical power of the PEMFC stack have been investigated. The tests were performed on a 3.5 kW_el ZSW stack using the GreenLight GEN VI FC Test Station. The stack characteristics have been obtained running a predefined loading pattern. Some parameters were kept constant during the tests: anode and cathode inlet temperature, anode and cathode inlet relative humidity, anode stoichiometry and inlet temperature of the cooling water. The experimental analysis has shown that an increase in air stoichiometry causes a significant positive effect (increment) on electric power, especially at high-current density, and up to the value of 2 stoichs. These results have been connected to the cathode water flooding, and a discussion was performed concerning the influence of air stoichiometry on electrode flooding at different levels of current density operation.     

Evaluation of flow field design effects on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance

Fluid distribution, conduction, and heat control are important phenomenon in the fuel cell fraternity, therefore it is crucial to develop a state-of-the-art bipolar plate (BP) to attain optimum cell performance. Metal foam (MF) and fine mesh have attracted a lot of attention in mitigating some of the challenges associated with straight, and serpentine channels. In this study, MF, 3D fine mesh, fine wire mesh (FWM) flow fields are compared with triple serpentine flow field to develop an optimum design for improved PEMFC performance. Two different foam designs are studied to attenuate the existing drawback associated with MF, mainly caused by high water retention. The 3D fine mesh is leading in performance under anodic and cathodic stoichiometry of 1 and 3 respectively. On increasing the anodic and cathodic stoichiometry to 1.2 and 3.5 respectively, the FWM took the lead. This is brought by the improved water drainage under high stoichiometry. Because FWM is already in mass production, although for other purposes, it is cost competitive over the other designs. The fine mesh and the MF have the potential to break down large water droplet making them easy to drain. They also showed symmetric fluid flow, compared to the serpentine design.     

A three-dimensional full-cell CFD model used to investigate the effects of different flow channel designs on PEMFC performance

A three-dimensional “full-cell” computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is proposed in this paper to investigate the effects of different flow channel designs on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The flow channel designs selected in this work include the parallel and serpentine flow channels, single-path and multi-path flow channels, and uniform depth and step-wise depth flow channels. This model is validated by the experiments conducted in the fuel cell center of Yuan Ze University, showing that the present model can investigate the characteristics of flow channel for the PEMFC and assist in the optima designs of flow channels. The effects of different flow channel designs on the PEMFC performance obtained by the model predictions agree well with those obtained by experiments. Based on the simulation results, which are also confirmed by the experimental data, the parallel flow channel with the step-wise depth design significantly promotes the PEMFC performance. However, the performance of PEMFC with the serpentine flow channel is insensitive to these different depth designs. In addition, the distribution characteristics of fuel gases and current density for the PEMFC with different flow channels can be also reasonably captured by the present model.