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Thermal investigation of a PEM fuel cell with cooling flow field

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  • Rahgoshay, S.M.
  • Ranjbar, A.A.
  • Ramiar, A.
  • Alizadeh, E.

Abstract

Efficient operation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is hugely dependent on an effective cooling system. Nonuniformity of temperature causes a varying rate of electrochemical reactions at different places causing hot spot formation which decreases the PEM fuel cell lifetime. In this study, PEMFC is simulated with cooling flow field simultaneously. Two conventional serpentine and parallel types of flow field of cooling plates are considered and compared with typical isothermal model (without cooling flow field) used in Ansys Fluent software. This comparison based on effective physical parameters such as pressure drop, the minimum and maximum temperature gradient, Index of uniform temperature (IUT) and etc. In the same working conditions, maximum temperature ratio between parallel and serpentine model is 1.0028 but for index of uniform temperature this study revealed 24% improvement for serpentine cooling flow field than parallel one. The results show that changing the heat transfer rate can be effective on the performance of PEM fuel cell and PEMFC with serpentine cooling flow field compared with parallel one. Serpentine flow field has better cooling performance with regard to effective physical parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Rahgoshay, S.M. & Ranjbar, A.A. & Ramiar, A. & Alizadeh, E., 2017. "Thermal investigation of a PEM fuel cell with cooling flow field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 61-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:134:y:2017:i:c:p:61-73
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2017.05.151
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Amirfazli, Amir & Asghari, Saeed & Sarraf, Mohammad, 2018. "An investigation into the effect of manifold geometry on uniformity of temperature distribution in a PEMFC stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 141-151.
    8. Zhan, Zhigang & Yuan, Chong & Hu, Zhangrong & Wang, Hui & Sui, P.C. & Djilali, Ned & Pan, Mu, 2018. "Experimental study on different preheating methods for the cold-start of PEMFC stacks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1029-1040.
    9. Abdollahipour, Armin & Sayyaadi, Hoseyn, 2022. "Optimal design of a hybrid power generation system based on integrating PEM fuel cell and PEM electrolyzer as a moderator for micro-renewable energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    10. Zhao, Jian & Ozden, Adnan & Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Alaefour, Ibrahim E. & Li, Xianguo & Hamdullahpur, Feridun, 2018. "Effect of Pt loading and catalyst type on the pore structure of porous electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 69-76.
    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. Abdollahipour, Armin & Sayyaadi, Hoseyn, 2022. "A novel electrochemical refrigeration system based on the combined proton exchange membrane fuel cell-electrolyzer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 316(C).
    13. Atyabi, Seyed Ali & Afshari, Ebrahim & Shakarami, Negar, 2023. "Three-dimensional multiphase modeling of the performance of an open-cathode PEM fuel cell with additional cooling channels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PA).
    14. Asensio, F.J. & San Martín, J.I. & Zamora, I. & Saldaña, G. & Oñederra, O., 2019. "Analysis of electrochemical and thermal models and modeling techniques for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1-1.
    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. 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).
    17. Li, Qingshan & Wang, Chenfang & Wang, Chunmei & Zhou, Taotao & Zhang, Xianwen & Zhang, Yangjun & Zhuge, Weilin & Sun, Li, 2023. "Comparison of organic coolants for boiling cooling of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).

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