Effects of force field and design parameters on the exergy efficiency and fuel utilization of microfluidic fuel cells |
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| Affiliation: | 1. College of Mechanical Engineering, Guangxi University, Nanning, PR China;2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, PR China;1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong;2. Institute of Environmental Engineering, East China Jiao Tong University, Nanchang, China;1. School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China;2. EMDL, Department of Chemistry, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, South Korea;1. Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400030, China;2. Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Powering Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400030, China;3. School of Automotive Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, 430070, China;4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic), University of Victoria, P.O.Box 3055 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, V8W 3P6, Canada;1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong;2. State-Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China;3. School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom |
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| Abstract: | Microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs) are novel systems that satisfy the critical requirements of having small dimensions and substantial power output for use in portable devices. In this study, three-dimensional mathematical models of two types of MFCs (flow-over and flow-through) are developed, by coupling multiphysics consisting of microfluidic hydrodynamics, electrochemical reaction kinetics, and species transport of fluid. Moreover, gravity, exergy, and parametric sensitivity are studied, which have tremendous impact on fuel cell performance and have been frequently overlooked in previous literature. The reliability of the numerical model is demonstrated by the excellent consistency between simulation results and experimental data. First, a parametric analysis is conducted, which includes the design parameters and gravity effect. Following this, the fuel utilization and exergy efficiency are calculated for various design parameters. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is performed to evaluate the influence of the indicators on the cell performance. It is shown that a relatively stable performance is achieved with the flow-through MFC under interference from the external environment. The reactive sites of the flow-through MFC can be utilised effectively, whereas further promotion of the flow-over MFC is limited by its inherent drawback. In addition, the sensitivity analysis reveals that cell performance depends strongly on the flow rate and fuel concentration. The results can be beneficial for the investigation of cell performance optimization. |
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| Keywords: | Microfluidic fuel cells Computational modelling Parametric study Exergy efficiency Sensitivity analysis |
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