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Numerical study of the effect of relative humidity and stoichiometric flow ratio on PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell performance with various channel lengths: An anode partial flooding modelling

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  • Xing, Lei
  • Cai, Qiong
  • Xu, Chenxi
  • Liu, Chunbo
  • Scott, Keith
  • Yan, Yongsheng

Abstract

A two dimensional, along the channel, non-isothermal, two-phase flow, anode partial flooding model was developed to investigate the effects of relative humidity, stoichiometric flow ratio and channel length, as well as their interactive influence, on the performance of a PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell. Liquid water formation and transport at the anode due to the condensation of supersaturated anode gas initiated by hydrogen consumption was considered. The model considered the heat source/sink in terms of electrochemical reaction, Joule heating and latent heat due to water phase-transfer. The non-uniform temperature distributions inside the MEA (membrane electrode assembly) and channels at various stoichiometric flow ratios were demonstrated. The Peclet number was used to evaluate the contributions of advection and diffusion on liquid water and heat transport. Results indicated that higher anode relative humidity is required to the improved cell performance. As the decrease in the anode relative humidity and increase in channel length, the optimal cathode relative humidity was increased. The initial increase in stoichiometric flow ratio improved the limiting current densities. However, the further increases led to limited contributions. The Peclet number indicated that the liquid water transport through the electrode was mainly determined by the capillary diffusion mechanism.

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  • Xing, Lei & Cai, Qiong & Xu, Chenxi & Liu, Chunbo & Scott, Keith & Yan, Yongsheng, 2016. "Numerical study of the effect of relative humidity and stoichiometric flow ratio on PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell performance with various channel lengths: An anode partial flooding modelli," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 631-645.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:106:y:2016:i:c:p:631-645
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.03.105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Xu, Liangfei & Fang, Chuan & Hu, Junming & Cheng, Siliang & Li, Jianqiu & Ouyang, Minggao & Lehnert, Werner, 2017. "Parameter extraction of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell based on quasi-dynamic model and periphery signals," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 675-690.
    4. Ahmad Baroutaji & Arun Arjunan & John Robinson & Tabbi Wilberforce & Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem & Abdul Ghani Olabi, 2021. "PEMFC Poly-Generation Systems: Developments, Merits, and Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-31, October.
    5. Atyabi, Seyed Ali & Afshari, Ebrahim & Wongwises, Somchai & Yan, Wen-Mon & Hadjadj, Abdellah & Shadloo, Mostafa Safdari, 2019. "Effects of assembly pressure on PEM fuel cell performance by taking into accounts electrical and thermal contact resistances," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 490-501.
    6. Lin, R. & Ren, Y.S. & Lin, X.W. & Jiang, Z.H. & Yang, Z. & Chang, Y.T., 2017. "Investigation of the internal behavior in segmented PEMFCs of different flow fields during cold start process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 367-377.
    7. Dong, Pengcheng & Xie, Gongnan & Ni, Meng, 2021. "Improved energy performance of a PEM fuel cell by introducing discontinuous S-shaped and crescent ribs into flowing channels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    8. Abdollahzadeh, M. & Ribeirinha, P. & Boaventura, M. & Mendes, A., 2018. "Three-dimensional modeling of PEMFC with contaminated anode fuel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 939-959.
    9. Xu, Liangfei & Fang, Chuan & Li, Jianqiu & Ouyang, Minggao & Lehnert, Werner, 2018. "Nonlinear dynamic mechanism modeling of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with dead-ended anode considering mass transport and actuator properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 106-121.
    10. Zhang, Qian & Lin, Rui & Técher, Ludovic & Cui, Xin, 2016. "Experimental study of variable operating parameters effects on overall PEMFC performance and spatial performance distribution," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 550-560.
    11. Chowdhury, Mohammad Ziauddin & Timurkutluk, Bora, 2018. "Transport phenomena of convergent and divergent serpentine flow fields for PEMFC," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 104-117.
    12. Liu, Yongfeng & Wang, Na & Pei, Pucheng & Yao, Shengzhuo & Wang, Fang, 2018. "Asymptotic analysis of anode relative humidity effects on the fastest voltage decay single cell in a stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 490-500.
    13. 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).
    14. Ismail, M.S. & Ingham, D.B. & Ma, L. & Hughes, K.J. & Pourkashanian, M., 2017. "Effects of catalyst agglomerate shape in polymer electrolyte fuel cells investigated by a multi-scale modelling framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 420-430.
    15. Bhuvanendran, Narayanamoorthy & Ravichandran, Sabarinathan & Jayaseelan, Santhana Sivabalan & Xu, Qian & Khotseng, Lindiwe & Su, Huaneng, 2020. "Improved bi-functional oxygen electrocatalytic performance of Pt–Ir alloy nanoparticles embedded on MWCNT with Pt-enriched surfaces," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    16. Lopez Lopez, Guadalupe & Schacht Rodriguez, Ricardo & Alvarado, Victor M. & Gomez-Aguilar, J.F. & Mota, Juan E. & Sandoval, Cinda, 2017. "Hybrid PEMFC-supercapacitor system: Modeling and energy management in energetic macroscopic representation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 1478-1494.
    17. Hu, Junming & Li, Jianqiu & Xu, Liangfei & Huang, Fusen & Ouyang, Minggao, 2016. "Analytical calculation and evaluation of water transport through a proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on a one-dimensional model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 869-883.
    18. Barzegari, Mohammad M. & Dardel, Morteza & Alizadeh, Ebrahim & Ramiar, Abas, 2016. "Reduced-order model of cascade-type PEM fuel cell stack with integrated humidifiers and water separators," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 683-692.
    19. Chevalier, S. & Josset, C. & Auvity, B., 2018. "Analytical solutions and dimensional analysis of pseudo 2D current density distribution model in PEM fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 738-746.
    20. Oh, Taek Hyun, 2016. "A formic acid hydrogen generator using Pd/C3N4 catalyst for mobile proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 679-685.

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