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Three-dimensional simulation of a new cooling strategy for proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack using a non-isothermal multiphase model

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Listed:
  • Zhang, Guobin
  • Yuan, Hao
  • Wang, Yun
  • Jiao, Kui

Abstract

In this study, a new cooling strategy for a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack is investigated using a three-dimensional (3D) multiphase non-isothermal model. The new cooling strategy follows that of the Honda’s Clarity design and further extends to a cooling unit every five cells in stacks. The stack consists of 5 fuel cells sharing the inlet and outlet manifolds for reactant gas flows. Each cell has 7-path serpentine flow fields with a counter-flow configuration arranged for hydrogen and air streams. The coolant flow fields are set at the two sides of the stack and are simplified as the convective heat transfer thermal boundary conditions. This study also compares two thermal boundary conditions, namely limited and infinite coolant flow rates, and their impacts on the distributions of oxygen, liquid water, current density and membrane hydration. The difference of local temperature between these two cooling conditions is as much as 6.9 K in the 5-cell stack, while it is only 1.7 K in a single cell. In addition, the increased vapor concentration at high temperature (and hence water saturation pressure) dilutes the oxygen content in the air flow, reducing local oxygen concentration. The higher temperature in the stack also causes low membrane hydration, and consequently poor cell performance and non-uniform current density distribution, as disclosed by the simulation. The work indicates the new cooling strategy can be optimized by increasing the heat transfer coefficient between the stack and coolant to mitigate local overheating and cell performance reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Guobin & Yuan, Hao & Wang, Yun & Jiao, Kui, 2019. "Three-dimensional simulation of a new cooling strategy for proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack using a non-isothermal multiphase model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:255:y:2019:i:c:s0306261919315521
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113865
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Han, Chaoling & Chen, Zhenqian, 2021. "Study on the synergism of thermal transport and electrochemical of PEMFC based on N, P co-doped graphene substrate electrode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    2. Atyabi, Seyed Ali & Afshari, Ebrahim & Zohravi, Elnaz & Udemu, Chinonyelum M., 2021. "Three-dimensional simulation of different flow fields of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using a multi-phase coupled model with cooling channel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    3. Shao, Yangbin & Xu, Liangfei & Hu, Zunyan & Xu, Ling & Zhao, Yang & Zhao, Guanlei & Li, Jianqiu & Ouyang, Minggao, 2023. "Investigation on the performance heterogeneity within a fuel cell stack considering non-isopotential of bipolar plates," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PB).
    4. Wang, Qianqian & Tang, Fumin & Li, Bing & Dai, Haifeng & Zheng, Jim P. & Zhang, Cunman & Ming, Pingwen, 2022. "Investigation of the thermal responses under gas channel and land inside proton exchange membrane fuel cell with assembly pressure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    5. Yang, Zirong & Jiao, Kui & Wu, Kangcheng & Shi, Weilong & Jiang, Shangfeng & Zhang, Longhai & Du, Qing, 2021. "Numerical investigations of assisted heating cold start strategies for proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    6. Xie, Biao & Zhang, Hanyang & Huo, Wenming & Wang, Renfang & Zhu, Ying & Wu, Lizhen & Zhang, Guobin & Ni, Meng & Jiao, Kui, 2023. "Large-scale three-dimensional simulation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell considering detailed water transition mechanism," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 331(C).
    7. Yin, Cong & Cao, Jishen & Tang, Qilin & Su, Yanghuai & Wang, Renkang & Li, Kai & Tang, Hao, 2022. "Study of internal performance of commercial-size fuel cell stack with 3D multi-physical model and high resolution current mapping," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    8. Zhou, Kehan & Liu, Zhiwei & Zhang, Xin & Liu, Hang & Meng, Nan & Huang, Jianmei & Qi, Mingjing & Song, Xizhen & Yan, Xiaojun, 2022. "A kW-level integrated propulsion system for UAV powered by PEMFC with inclined cathode flow structure design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    9. Suprava Chakraborty & Devaraj Elangovan & Karthikeyan Palaniswamy & Ashley Fly & Dineshkumar Ravi & Denis Ashok Sathia Seelan & Thundil Karuppa Raj Rajagopal, 2022. "A Review on the Numerical Studies on the Performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Flow Channel Designs for Automotive Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Pourrahmani, Hossein & Van herle, Jan, 2022. "Water management of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Optimizing the effect of microstructural properties on the gas diffusion layer liquid removal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    11. Xu, Jiamin & Zhang, Caizhi & Wan, Zhongmin & Chen, Xi & Chan, Siew Hwa & Tu, Zhengkai, 2022. "Progress and perspectives of integrated thermal management systems in PEM fuel cell vehicles: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    12. Chu, Tiankuo & Xie, Meng & Yu, Yue & Wang, Baoyun & Yang, Daijun & Li, Bing & Ming, Pingwen & Zhang, Cunman, 2022. "Experimental study of the influence of dynamic load cycle and operating parameters on the durability of PEMFC," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    13. Luo, Lizhong & Huang, Bi & Bai, Xingying & Cheng, Zongyi & Jian, Qifei, 2020. "Temperature uniformity improvement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with ultra-thin vapor chambers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    14. Tian, Pengjie & Liu, Xuejun & Luo, Kaiyao & Li, Hongkun & Wang, Yun, 2021. "Deep learning from three-dimensional multiphysics simulation in operational optimization and control of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell for maximum power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    15. Jiangnan Song & Ying Huang & Yi Liu & Zongpeng Ma & Lunjun Chen & Taike Li & Xiang Zhang, 2022. "Numerical Investigation and Optimization of Cooling Flow Field Design for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Jinrong Yang & Yichun Wu & Xingyang Liu, 2023. "Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Power Prediction Based on Ridge Regression and Convolutional Neural Network Data-Driven Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-31, July.
    17. Chen, Qin & Zhang, Guobin & Zhang, Xuzhong & Sun, Cheng & Jiao, Kui & Wang, Yun, 2021. "Thermal management of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: A review of cooling methods, material properties, and durability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).

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