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Numerical and experimental study of two-phase flow uniformity in channels of parallel PEM fuel cells with modified Z-type flow-fields

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  • Ashrafi, Moosa
  • Kanani, Homayoon
  • Shams, Mehrzad

Abstract

The aim of this study is to improve two-phase flow uniformity of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with parallel flow-fields. Therefore, a series of experiments are performed to find the relevance of cathode stoichiometry ratio, unsteady distribution of water coverage ratios and power of a PEMFC with Z-type flow-field. The experimental results indicate that at high cathode stoichiometry ratios, the power and efficiency are stable but their magnitudes are low. In addition, the fuel cell later reaches to its stable power and efficiency. However, the duration of this stability is higher than low cathode stoichiometry ratios. A 3D numerical model is proposed in order to simulate two-phase flow in channels of parallel flow-fields. This model, which is validated by the experimental results, considers the microstructure of gas diffusion layers. By using this model, a modified flow-field with uniform distribution of single-phase and two-phase flow is introduced. Unlike the simple flow-field, the plugs do not exist in the modified flow-field. It has lower two-phase pressure drop than the simple flow-field. The simulation results show that the parasitic power for the air supply system of this modified flow-field is lower than the simple flow-field and therefore its overall efficiency is higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashrafi, Moosa & Kanani, Homayoon & Shams, Mehrzad, 2018. "Numerical and experimental study of two-phase flow uniformity in channels of parallel PEM fuel cells with modified Z-type flow-fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 317-328.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:147:y:2018:i:c:p:317-328
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.01.064
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    Cited by:

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    2. Zhou, Yu & Chen, Ben & Meng, Kai & Zhou, Haoran & Chen, Wenshang & Zhang, Ning & Deng, Qihao & Yang, Guanghua & Tu, Zhengkai, 2023. "Optimal design of a cathode flow field for performance enhancement of PEM fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 343(C).
    3. Zhou, Yu & Chen, Ben & Chen, Wenshang & Deng, Qihao & Shen, Jun & Tu, Zhengkai, 2022. "A novel opposite sinusoidal wave flow channel for performance enhancement of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    4. Hasheminasab, M. & Kermani, M.J. & Nourazar, S.S. & Khodsiani, M.H., 2020. "A novel experimental based statistical study for water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    5. Najmi, Aezid-Ul-Hassan & Anyanwu, Ikechukwu S. & Xie, Xu & Liu, Zhi & Jiao, Kui, 2021. "Experimental investigation and optimization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using different flow fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    6. Liu, Lina & Guo, Lingyi & Zhang, Ruiyuan & Chen, Li & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2021. "Numerically investigating two-phase reactive transport in multiple gas channels of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    7. Dong, Pengcheng & Xie, Gongnan & Ni, Meng, 2020. "The mass transfer characteristics and energy improvement with various partially blocked flow channels in a PEM fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    8. Huang, Haozhong & Liu, Mingxin & Li, Xuan & Guo, Xiaoyu & Wang, Tongying & Li, Songwei & Lei, Han, 2022. "Numerical simulation and visualization study of a new tapered-slope serpentine flow field in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    9. Zhang, Lifeng & Zhang, Sijia, 2023. "Analysis and identification of gas-liquid two-phase flow pattern based on multi-scale power spectral entropy and pseudo-image encoding," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    10. Fathy, Ahmed & Babu, Thanikanti Sudhakar & Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali & Rezk, Hegazy & Yousri, Dalia, 2022. "Recent approach based heterogeneous comprehensive learning Archimedes optimization algorithm for identifying the optimal parameters of different fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    11. Zhang, Shuanyang & Liu, Shun & Xu, Hongtao & Liu, Gaojie & Wang, Ke, 2022. "Performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with honeycomb-like flow channel design," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).
    12. Lin, Zi & Liu, Xiaolei & Lao, Liyun & Liu, Hengxu, 2020. "Prediction of two-phase flow patterns in upward inclined pipes via deep learning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    13. Pan, Mingzhang & Li, Chao & Liao, Jinyang & Lei, Han & Pan, Chengjie & Meng, Xianpan & Huang, Haozhong, 2020. "Design and modeling of PEM fuel cell based on different flow fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    14. Yang, Zirong & Du, Qing & Jia, Zhiwei & Yang, Chunguang & Xuan, Jin & Jiao, Kui, 2019. "A comprehensive proton exchange membrane fuel cell system model integrating various auxiliary subsystems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    15. Feng, Pengfei & Tan, Ligang & Cao, Yucheng & Chen, Ding, 2023. "Numerical investigations of two-phase flow coupled with species transport in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).

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