Effect of operating parameters on dynamic response of water-to-gas membrane humidifier for proton exchange membrane fuel cell vehicle

An analytic multi-dimensional dynamic model of a membrane type humidifier has been developed for the study of transient responses of the humidifier under proton exchange membrane fuel cell vehicle operating conditions. The dynamic responses of heat and mass transfer and fluid flow in a membrane humidifier are mathematically formulated and modeled with a newly developed pseudo-multi-dimensional concept. The model is used to analyze the performance of the humidifier under various operating conditions and the dynamic response of the humidifier under transient operating conditions. The simulation results show that, in the case of the water-to-gas type membrane humidifier modeled in this study, the time constant of water diffusion in the membrane is less than 1 s. Thus, the delay of the response of the humidifier induced by the vapor diffusion in the membrane is not significant in vehicle operation. However, it is also found that the dynamic behavior is mainly due to the thermal resistance and heat capacity of the membrane humidifier.     

膜加湿器热质交换过程的理论分析

膜加湿器是保证质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)正常高效运行的重要组成部分.以燃料电池的板式膜加湿器为研究对象,根据热质交换原理对膜加湿器的传热传质过程进行了理论计算,分析了空气质量流量、膜内加湿侧进口温度和膜内加湿侧进口湿度对传热传质过程的影响.在传热方面:当空气质量流量不同时,随着膜内加湿侧进口温度的变化,膜内的热流量变化趋势不一致;当膜内加湿侧进口相对湿度为95%时,随着空气质量流量的变化,膜内热流量变化不大.在传质方面:当加湿侧进口相对湿度不变时,膜中水传输速率随着空气质量流量的增大而减小;当空气质量流量不变时,膜中水传输速率随着加湿侧进口相对湿度的增大而增大.     

湿化器的传热传质机理和性能分析

从传热传质基本原理出发,建立了ＨＡＴ循环的重要部件－湿化器的数学模型,研究了湿化器的工作性能,并指出了目前某些处理方法的不合理之处。     

Experimental verification of a membrane humidifier model based on the effectiveness method

Experiments conducted on a commercial fuel cell humidifier determined that the water recovery ratio is the best performance metric because it considers the water supplied to the humidifier. Data from a porous polymer membrane with a hydrophilic additive were analyzed under a heat and mass transfer model. The membrane showed low water uptake profiles at relative humidities below 80 percent, and a steep increase in water uptake above threshold.The experiments were conducted with samples of the porous membrane in a single cell humidifier at isothermal conditions at temperatures of 25, 50, and 75 °C. The water recovery ratio for the porous membrane decreased with increasing flow rate.The model was verified experimentally and its predictions agreed with the measured data.     

Mass transfer characteristics of the hydrophilic membrane with the isolation of heat transfer effect by isothermal bath

The efficiency and lifetime of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is critically affected by the humidity of incoming gas which should be maintained properly for normal operating conditions. But the experimental characteristics of the humidifier are rarely reported. Water transport through the hydrophilic membrane is a coupled phenomenon of heat and mass transport. In this study, a laboratory scale test bench is designed to investigate the characteristics of water transport through the hydrophilic membrane. The mass transfer capability of the hydrophilic membrane is evaluated over various flow rates, temperature, pressure, and flow arrangements. In the experiment, the test bench is submerged in a constant temperature bath in order to isolate the effect of temperature variation between dry air and humid air. The results show the water transport of the hydrophilic membrane is significantly affected by operating temperature and operating pressure. Additionally, the flow arrangement demonstrates a minor effect but it should be considered along with the heat transfer effect.     

An experimental study and model validation of a membrane humidifier for PEM fuel cell humidification control

This paper presents an experimental study and model validation of an external membrane humidifier for PEM fuel cell humidification control. Membrane humidification behavior was investigated with steady-state and dynamic tests. Steady-state test results show that the membrane vapor transfer rate increases significantly with water channel temperature, air channel temperature, and air flow rate. Water channel pressure has little effect on the vapor transfer rate and thus can be neglected in the system modeling. Dynamic test results reveal that the membrane humidifier has a non-minimum phase (NMP) behavior, which presents extra challenges for control system design. Based on the test data, a new water vapor transfer coefficient for Nafion membrane was obtained. This coefficient increases exponentially with the membrane temperature. The test results were also used to validate a thermodynamic model for membrane humidification. It is shown that the model prediction agrees well with the experimental results. The validated model provides an important tool for external humidifier design and fuel cell humidification control.     

Effect of inserting obstacles in flow field on a membrane humidifier performance for PEMFC application: A CFD model

In this study, the numerical models are developed to investigate the influence of obstacle shape and number on performance of a planar porous membrane humidifier for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) application. Dew point of dry side outlet and water transfer rate are applied as evaluation parameters of the performance regardless of pressure drop. A dimensionless number named performance evaluation criteria (PEC) is calculated for all models. The higher value of PEC indicates the higher heat transfer rate with lower pressure drop. In humidifier with one rectangular obstacle compared with the simple humidifier, water transfer rate increases by 7.28%. The highest values of water transfer rate, dew point and PEC, also the greatest values of pressure drop are in humidifiers with rectangular, triangular and circular obstacles, in that order. When there is restriction in securing pumping power in fuel cell system, circular obstacle is the best choice. With considering the pressure drop, using one obstacle does not offer any advantage because the PEC is less than one (0.898). At least two obstacles are needed to have PEC number greater than one, consequently an efficient performance. An increment in number of obstacles causes an increment in water transfer rate, dew point and PEC.     

A parametric study of the performance of a planar membrane humidifier with a heat and mass exchanger model for design optimization

The performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is seriously changed by the humidification capability available when equipped with a PTFE® membrane. Typically, the humidification of a fuel cell is carried out by means of an internal or external humidifier. A membrane humidifier is applied to the external humidification of residential power generation fuel cell due to its convenience and high performance. In this study, a static model is constructed to understand the physical phenomena of the membrane humidifier in terms of geometric parameters and operating parameters. The model utilizes the concept of planar type heat exchanger with mass transport through the membrane. The model is constructed with FORTRAN in a Simulink® environment for consistency with other components of the model we previously developed. The results show that the humidity of the wet gas and the channel length, the membrane thickness and wet gas inlet humidity are critical parameters affecting the performance of the humidifier.     

Numerical simulation of heat and mass transfer in metal hydride hydrogen storage tanks for fuel cell vehicles

This paper presents a two-dimensional mathematical model to optimized heat and mass transfer in metal hydride storage tanks (hereinafter MHSTs) for fuel cell vehicles, equipped with finned spiral tube heat exchangers. This model which considers complex heat and mass transfer was numerically solved and validated by comparison with experimental data and a good agreement is obtained.     

燃料电池空气系统增湿器建模与仿真

建立气-气增湿器的数学理论模型,并基于Amesim软件建立燃料电池增湿器及空气系统仿真模型,从燃料电池系统层面分析干湿侧不同温度、压力、水含量等输入条件下的干侧出口空气的湿度变化情况,并采用水转移率（water vapor transfer rate,WVTR）对增湿器增湿性能进行评价,结果表明此模型可进行前期验证,能较好地预测汽车运行过程中增湿器的动态响应特性。     

Two dimensional dynamic modeling of a shell-and-tube water-to-gas membrane humidifier for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Water management is a crucial factor in determining the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for automotive application. The shell-and-tube water-to-gas membrane humidifier is useful for humidifying the PEMFC due to its good performance. Shell-and-tube water-to-gas membrane humidifiers have liquid water on one side of the tube wall and a dry gas on the other. In order to investigate humidifier performance, a two-dimensional dynamic model of a shell-and-tube water-to-gas membrane humidifier is developed. The model is discretized into three control volumes – shell, tube and membrane – in the cross-sectional direction to resolve the temperature and species concentration of the humidifier. For validation, the dew point temperature of the simulation result is compared with that of experimental data and shows good agreement with only a slight difference. The distribution of humidification characteristics can be captured using the discretization along the air-flow direction. The humidification performance of two different flow configurations, counter and parallel, are compared under various operating conditions and geometric parameters. Finally, the dynamic response of the humidifier at the step-change of various air flow rates is investigated. These results suggest that the model can be used to optimize the inlet flow humidity of a PEMFC.     

质子交换膜燃料电池的多尺度传热传质

介绍了目前质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)在膜、电极、单电池、电堆或系统等四个结构尺度上的传热传质过程研究;主要讨论了PEMFC内的多组分传输、膜内水管理和多孔电极内的传热、传质过程;认为建立在孔尺度水平的研究方法是深入探讨电池内多孔材料微结构传热传质的有效途径;多维、多尺度模型的建立及其模拟计算能准确反映PEMFC内部的传递过程机理,为进一步优化电池结构和操作条件提供有价值的参考。     

Heat and mass transfer in a unitized regenerative fuel cell during mode switching

With the occurrence of reversible electrochemical reactions, mode switching considerably affects the electric performance of unitized regenerative fuel cells (URFCs) owing to the complicated mass and heat transfer. Although limited researches have been done, no such studies on mass and heat transfer through a three‐dimensional view are envisioned during mode switching. A three‐dimensional full‐cell model was developed and validated to study the dynamic characteristics of a proton exchange membrane‐based URFC during mode switching. Mode switching was performed by changing operation voltage from 0.60 to 1.65 V. Results showed that species and heat transfer affect the electric performance of the cell during mode switching, especially through the third dimensional. Local water starvation occurs on oxygen side catalyst layer and thus results in slight reduction on current density and hydrogen generation. Restricted to heat transfer capacity through ribs, heat transfer process adds total response time in URFCs. Heat flux and surface heat transfer coefficient are forecasted on the hydrogen and oxygen sides. A total time of 4 seconds is essential for URFC reaching a new relative balanced state.     

Critical issues in heat transfer for fuel cell systems

The current state of the art in fuel cell system development will be reviewed with an emphasis of the critical issues on heat transfer.

The heat transfer issues for both PEM based systems and SOFC based fuel cell systems will be addressed.

For systems that are based on hydrocarbon fuels a reforming step is needed and critical heat transfer issues are also present in this fuel processing part of the system where the primary feedstock is converted to reformate. Also, in both the PEM and SOFC fuel cell itself, heat transfer is a critical issue. It will be shown what are the implications of the fuel cell heat transfer to the total system architecture for the various fuel cell applications (stationary power, transport).

The heat transfer issues in fuel cell system development will be clarified with several examples.     

Two-dimensional two-phase thermal model for passive direct methanol fuel cells

A two-dimensional two-phase thermal model is presented for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), in which the fuel and oxidant are fed in a passive manner. The inherently coupled heat and mass transport, along with the electrochemical reactions occurring in the passive DMFC is modeled based on the unsaturated flow theory in porous media. The model is solved numerically using a home-written computer code to investigate the effects of various operating and geometric design parameters, including methanol concentration as well as the open ratio and channel and rib width of the current collectors, on cell performance. The numerical results show that the cell performance increases with increasing methanol concentration from 1.0 to 4.0 M, due primarily to the increased operating temperature resulting from the exothermic reaction between the permeated methanol and oxygen on the cathode and the increased mass transfer rate of methanol. It is also shown that the cell performance upgrades with increasing the open ratio and with decreasing the rib width as the result of the increased mass transfer rate on both the anode and cathode.     

Dynamic response of a unitized regenerative fuel cell under various ways of mode switching

Mode switching is an important process in unitized regenerative fuel cells. The complex interactions of heat and mass transfer during the operation of mode switching have a significant effect on cell performance. Twelve different ways of mode switching were proposed by controlling inlet boundary conditions of supplies and operating voltage. Numerical simulations were applied to analyze the dynamic response of heat and mass transfer as well as electrochemical signals under the different ways of mode switching. Current density increased with mass fraction of reactants. Cell heat source had an instant response to current density, but the temperature was slow to respond to the heat source. Hydrogen‐side inlet velocity had minimal impact on mode switching. The time for cell reaching stability increased with the increase of voltage change time, and the time for current density, mass transfer, and temperature reaching stable values increased in order. Unitized regenerative fuel cell had similar dynamic response in the 2 period: cell temperature increased in the fuel cell mode and decreased in the water electrolysis mode after mode switching.     

Non-isothermal transient modeling of water transport in PEM fuel cells

Dynamic responses of PEM fuel cells are crucial for mobile applications such as in automobiles. There are four main transient processes in a PEM fuel cell, namely, species transport, electric double layer charge/discharge, membrane hydration/dehydration, and heat transfer. In this study, a rigorous transient model has been developed, accounting for all four transient mechanisms. The dynamic characteristics have been analyzed, corresponding to various changes in working conditions, such as relative humidity and/or cell voltage. Moreover, by using three different membrane types, Nafion 112, Nafion 115, and Nafion 117, the effect of membrane thickness on the cell dynamic performance has been investigated, and the importance of heat transfer effects on the cell dynamic responses have been highlighted.     

A transient analysis of three-dimensional heat and mass transfer in a molten carbonate fuel cell at start-up

In this paper, we investigate the time-dependent heat and mass transfer in a molten carbonate fuel cell at start-up. Thus, a three-dimensional, transient mathematical model is presented through a comprehensive inclusion of various physical, chemical and electrochemical processes that occur within the different components of molten carbonate fuel cells. The model is proposed as a predictive tool to provide a three-dimensional demonstration of variable variations at system start-up. The local distribution of field variables and quantities are showcased. It reveals that the electrochemical reaction rate is dominated by the over-potential, not by the reactants' molar fraction. Reversible heat generation and consumption mechanisms of the cathode and anode are dominant in the first 10 s while the heat conduction from the solid materials to the gas phase is negligible. Meanwhile, activation and ohmic heating have nearly the same impact within the anode and cathode. Based on these findings, the importance of heat conduction and its main features are finally assessed.     

超临界碳氢燃料流动换热的仿真研究

建立了适用于温度、压力大范围变化的超临界碳氢燃料换热特性研究的一维模型,试验验证了模型的可靠性,基于该模型分析了质量流率、换热状态转换和压力等因素对超临界碳氢燃料的换热特性的影响。结果表明:4.0 MPa的低压力工况下,在超临界碳氢燃料的拟临界温度附近存在传热强化现象,而7.0 MPa的高压力工况下,该传热强化现象消失;不论质量流率的大小,4.0 MPa工况下的传热系数始终高于7.0 MPa工况下的传热系数,压力的高低在超临界碳氢燃料的汽相换热区对传热性能的影响更为显著;40kg/(m2.s)的低质量流率条件下,由液相换热区向汽相换热区的换热状态转换将导致转换区附近的传热恶化,而增大质量流率则可避免该问题的发生。     

Charge,mass and heat transfer interactions in solid oxide fuel cells operated with different fuel gases—A sensitivity analysis

The interaction between charge, heat and mass transfer occurring in SOFCs is investigated applying a finite-volume-based SOFC model. The strong interactions are the consequence of the high degree of integration of different processes (chemical/electrochemical reactions, diffusion, heat and mass transfer) within SOFCs. The understanding of these interactions is a key for the future development and application of SOFCs. The investigation was conducted by means of a sensitivity analysis for two different fuel gases, where one gas features a considerable amount of methane inducing steam reforming reactions as additional disturbance factor in the energy and mass balance system of SOFCs. In order to isolate the impact of the varied model parameters and the according changes in the interactions of charge, mass and heat transfer from side effects, the sensitivity analysis was conducted at constant fuel utilization. It was found that the impact of different fuel gases on the operational conditions of SOFCs dominates geometrical and material-induced phenomena. The power output was most affected by the fuel, followed by the values for the activation polarization activation energy that reflects the employed electrode catalysts activity.