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Effect of the pore size variation in the substrate of the gas diffusion layer on water management and fuel cell performance

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  • Park, Jaeman
  • Oh, Hwanyeong
  • Lee, Yoo Il
  • Min, Kyoungdoug
  • Lee, Eunsook
  • Jyoung, Jy-Young

Abstract

The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is a key component of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell due to its role as a pathway for fuel, air, and water. GDL determines the mass balance and water management in the PEM fuel cell. Thus, an investigation of the optimal structural characteristics of the GDL with improved water management is important to ensure high performance of the PEM fuel cell. In this study, a PEM fuel cell model that considers the structural characteristics of GDL is developed, and the various the GDL structural characteristics are analyzed and validated. Specifically, the effects of pore size variation in the substrate of the GDL on water management and cell performance are investigated. Two GDL samples with different pore sizes are evaluated according to the porosity, pore size, thickness, and internal contact angle to understand the basic structural characteristics of the GDL. The GDL structural parameters with the basic characteristics are incorporated into the developed model. The cell performance is predicted to be relative to the two-phase mass transport inside the GDL. The characteristics of the micro-porous layer (MPL) and MPL penetration part are found to be affected by the variation in the macro-pore size of the substrate. The water management capability of the GDL varies with these differences with respect to water retention and removal characteristics. Under the condition of relative humidity (RH) 100%, the averaged saturation value of the MPL and MPL penetration part of the GDL with small macro-pore in the substrate is 18.8% higher than that of the GDL with large macro-pore in the substrate. The cell performance is also affected by the operating conditions of relative humidity and current load. The voltage of the GDL with small macro-pore in the substrate at the current density of 1.6A/cm2 is 10.3% lower than that of the GDL with large macro-pore in the substrate under RH 100%.

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  • Park, Jaeman & Oh, Hwanyeong & Lee, Yoo Il & Min, Kyoungdoug & Lee, Eunsook & Jyoung, Jy-Young, 2016. "Effect of the pore size variation in the substrate of the gas diffusion layer on water management and fuel cell performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 200-212.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:171:y:2016:i:c:p:200-212
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.02.132
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    2. Samir De, Biswajit & Cunningham, Joshua & Khare, Neeraj & Luo, Jing-Li & Elias, Anastasia & Basu, Suddhasatwa, 2022. "Hydrogen generation and utilization in a two-phase flow membraneless microfluidic electrolyzer-fuel cell tandem operation for micropower application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    3. Zhang, Xiaoqing & Yang, Jiapei & Ma, Xiao & Zhuge, Weilin & Shuai, Shijin, 2022. "Modelling and analysis on effects of penetration of microporous layer into gas diffusion layer in PEM fuel cells: Focusing on mass transport," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    4. Blandy Pamplona Solis & Julio César Cruz Argüello & Leopoldo Gómez Barba & Mayra Polett Gurrola & Zakaryaa Zarhri & Danna Lizeth TrejoArroyo, 2019. "Bibliometric Analysis of the Mass Transport in a Gas Diffusion Layer in PEM Fuel Cells," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-18, November.
    5. Yanzhou Qin & Xuefeng Wang & Rouxian Chen & Xiang Shangguan, 2018. "Water Transport and Removal in PEMFC Gas Flow Channel with Various Water Droplet Locations and Channel Surface Wettability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Yan, Xiaohui & Lin, Chen & Zheng, Zhifeng & Chen, Junren & Wei, Guanghua & Zhang, Junliang, 2020. "Effect of clamping pressure on liquid-cooled PEMFC stack performance considering inhomogeneous gas diffusion layer compression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    7. Fang, Yuan & Zhang, Tingting & Wang, Yonghui & Chen, Yuanzhen & Liu, Yan & Wu, Wenling & Zhu, Jianfeng, 2020. "The highly efficient cathode of framework structural Fe2O3/Mn2O3 in passive direct methanol fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
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    9. Zhang, Jingjing & Wang, Biao & Jin, Junhong & Yang, Shenglin & Li, Guang, 2022. "A review of the microporous layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Materials and structural designs based on water transport mechanism," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    10. Wong, A.K.C. & Ge, N. & Shrestha, P. & Liu, H. & Fahy, K. & Bazylak, A., 2019. "Polytetrafluoroethylene content in standalone microporous layers: Tradeoff between membrane hydration and mass transport losses in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 549-560.
    11. Wu, Horng-Wen & Shih, Gin-Jang & Chen, Yi-Bin, 2018. "Effect of operational parameters on transport and performance of a PEM fuel cell with the best protrusive gas diffusion layer arrangement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 47-58.
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    13. Wang, Qing-Hui & Yang, Song & Zhou, Wei & Li, Jing-Rong & Xu, Zhi-Jia & Ke, Yu-Zhi & Yu, Wei & Hu, Guang-Hua, 2018. "Optimizing the porosity configuration of porous copper fiber sintered felt for methanol steam reforming micro-reactor based on flow distribution," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 243-261.
    14. Kim, Jaeyeon & Kim, Hyeok & Song, Hyeonjun & Kim, Dasol & Kim, Geon Hwi & Im, Dasom & Jeong, Youngjin & Park, Taehyun, 2021. "Carbon nanotube sheet as a microporous layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    15. Ewa Janicka & Michal Mielniczek & Lukasz Gawel & Kazimierz Darowicki, 2021. "Optimization of the Relative Humidity of Reactant Gases in Hydrogen Fuel Cells Using Dynamic Impedance Measurements," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-11, May.
    16. Qiu, Diankai & Janßen, Holger & Peng, Linfa & Irmscher, Philipp & Lai, Xinmin & Lehnert, Werner, 2018. "Electrical resistance and microstructure of typical gas diffusion layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cell under compression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 127-137.
    17. Song Yan & Mingyang Yang & Chuanyu Sun & Sichuan Xu, 2023. "Liquid Water Characteristics in the Compressed Gradient Porosity Gas Diffusion Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Using the Lattice Boltzmann Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-18, August.
    18. Zhao, Jian & Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Alaefour, Ibrahim & Xu, Qian & Li, Xianguo, 2018. "Gas permeability of catalyzed electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 203-210.
    19. Niu, Zhiqiang & Bao, Zhiming & Wu, Jingtian & Wang, Yun & Jiao, Kui, 2018. "Two-phase flow in the mixed-wettability gas diffusion layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 443-450.
    20. Jiao, Daokuan & Jiao, Kui & Zhong, Shenghui & Du, Qing, 2022. "Investigations on heat and mass transfer in gas diffusion layers of PEMFC with a gas–liquid-solid coupled model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    21. Islam, Mohammad Rafiqul & Shabani, Bahman & Rosengarten, Gary, 2016. "Nanofluids to improve the performance of PEM fuel cell cooling systems: A theoretical approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 660-671.
    22. Deng, Hao & Wang, Dawei & Wang, Renfang & Xie, Xu & Yin, Yan & Du, Qing & Jiao, Kui, 2016. "Effect of electrode design and operating condition on performance of hydrogen alkaline membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1272-1278.
    23. He, Pu & Mu, Yu-Tong & Park, Jae Wan & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2020. "Modeling of the effects of cathode catalyst layer design parameters on performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

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