IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v197y2020ics0360544220302887.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancement of air-flow management in Zn-air fuel cells by the optimization of air-flow parameters

Author

Listed:
  • Sangeetha, Thangavel
  • Chen, Po-Tuan
  • Yan, Wei-Mon
  • Huang, K. David

Abstract

An attempt to reveal the effects of air-flow factors on the discharge performance of zinc (Zn)-air fuel cell (ZAFC) was performed in this study. Oxygen in the air was the active material reacting with Zn during reduction and also was an effective cathode fuel. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of air-flow management in ZAFCs by the optimization of air-flow factors like air-flow velocity, pressure and humidity in the ZAFC to eventually improve the cell performance. ZAFC with a blower fan was observed to produce better results than that with a suction fan. In addition, the influence of humidity on ZAFC can also be related to the performance of the cell. The inlet air velocity of 2 m/s produced maximum OCV under 200 mA discharge current and 69% humidity. Pure oxygen was perceived to have augmented the fuel cell performance rather than atmospheric air. The optimum operating conditions and air-flow management of ZAFC were interpreted by using computational fluid dynamic simulation techniques. Without increasing the initial capital costs and cell size, this study identified a suitable setting of inlet–outlet pressure that would substantially improve ZAFC performance. Thus, this study will prominently guarantee the enhanced application of ZAFCs in the future.

Suggested Citation

  • Sangeetha, Thangavel & Chen, Po-Tuan & Yan, Wei-Mon & Huang, K. David, 2020. "Enhancement of air-flow management in Zn-air fuel cells by the optimization of air-flow parameters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:197:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220302887
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544220302887
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117181?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. K. David Huang & Thangavel Sangeetha & Wu-Fu Cheng & Chunyo Lin & Po-Tuan Chen, 2018. "Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach for Performance Prediction in a Zinc–Air Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-13, August.
    2. Wang, Keliang & Pei, Pucheng & Wang, Yichun & Liao, Cheng & Wang, Wei & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Advanced rechargeable zinc-air battery with parameter optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 848-856.
    3. Sangeetha, Thangavel & Guo, Zechong & Liu, Wenzong & Gao, Lei & Wang, Ling & Cui, Minhua & Chen, Chuan & Wang, Aijie, 2017. "Energy recovery evaluation in an up flow microbial electrolysis coupled anaerobic digestion (ME-AD) reactor: Role of electrode positions and hydraulic retention times," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 1214-1224.
    4. Pei, Pucheng & Wang, Keliang & Ma, Ze, 2014. "Technologies for extending zinc–air battery’s cyclelife: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 315-324.
    5. Xu, Nengneng & Qiao, Jinli & Zhang, Xia & Ma, Chengyu & Jian, Saiai & Liu, Yuyu & Pei, Pucheng, 2016. "Morphology controlled La2O3/Co3O4/MnO2–CNTs hybrid nanocomposites with durable bi-functional air electrode in high-performance zinc–air energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 495-504.
    6. Pei, Pucheng & Huang, Shangwei & Chen, Dongfang & Li, Yuehua & Wu, Ziyao & Ren, Peng & Wang, Keliang & Jia, Xiaoning, 2019. "A high-energy-density and long-stable-performance zinc-air fuel cell system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 124-129.
    7. Jiang, H.R. & Wu, M.C. & Ren, Y.X. & Shyy, W. & Zhao, T.S., 2018. "Towards a uniform distribution of zinc in the negative electrode for zinc bromine flow batteries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 366-374.
    8. Han, Jaeyoung & Yu, Sangseok & Yi, Sun, 2017. "Adaptive control for robust air flow management in an automotive fuel cell system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 73-83.
    9. Kang, Dong Gyun & Shin, Dong Kyu & Kim, Sunjin & Kim, Min Soo, 2019. "Experimental study on the performance improvement of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with dual air supply," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 669-677.
    10. Thangavel Sangeetha & Po-Tuan Chen & Wu-Fu Cheng & Wei-Mon Yan & K. David Huang, 2019. "Optimization of the Electrolyte Parameters and Components in Zinc Particle Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Huang, Huiyu & Liu, Pengzhan & Ma, Qiuxia & Tang, Zihao & Wang, Mu & Hu, Junhui, 2023. "Airborne ultrasound catalyzed saltwater Al/Mg-air flow batteries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    2. Chen, Dongfang & Pan, Lyuming & Pei, Pucheng & Huang, Shangwei & Ren, Peng & Song, Xin, 2021. "Carbon-coated oxygen vacancies-rich Co3O4 nanoarrays grow on nickel foam as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    3. Sangeetha, Thangavel & Li, I-Ting & Lan, Tzu-Hsuan & Wang, Chin-Tsan & Yan, Wei-Mon, 2021. "A fluid dynamics perspective on the flow dependent performance of honey comb microbial fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    4. Igor Iwakiri & Tiago Antunes & Helena Almeida & João P. Sousa & Rita Bacelar Figueira & Adélio Mendes, 2021. "Redox Flow Batteries: Materials, Design and Prospects," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-45, September.
    5. Rewatkar, Prakash & Goel, Sanket, 2021. "Catalyst-mitigated arrayed aluminum-air origami fuel cell with ink-jet printed custom-porosity cathode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wei, Manhui & Wang, Keliang & Pei, Pucheng & Zuo, Yayu & Zhong, Liping & Shang, Nuo & Wang, Hengwei & Chen, Junfeng & Zhang, Pengfei & Chen, Zhuo, 2022. "An enhanced-performance Al-air battery optimizing the alkaline electrolyte with a strong Lewis acid ZnCl2," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    2. Thangavel Sangeetha & Po-Tuan Chen & Wu-Fu Cheng & Wei-Mon Yan & K. David Huang, 2019. "Optimization of the Electrolyte Parameters and Components in Zinc Particle Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Wang, Yifei & Kwok, Holly Y.H. & Pan, Wending & Zhang, Huimin & Lu, Xu & Leung, Dennis Y.C., 2019. "Parametric study and optimization of a low-cost paper-based Al-air battery with corrosion inhibition ability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Wang, Keliang & Pei, Pucheng & Wang, Yichun & Liao, Cheng & Wang, Wei & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Advanced rechargeable zinc-air battery with parameter optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 848-856.
    5. Pan, Lyuming & Chen, Dongfang & Pei, Pucheng & Huang, Shangwei & Ren, Peng & Song, Xin, 2021. "A novel structural design of air cathodes expanding three-phase reaction interfaces for zinc-air batteries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    6. Chen, Dongfang & Pan, Lyuming & Pei, Pucheng & Huang, Shangwei & Ren, Peng & Song, Xin, 2021. "Carbon-coated oxygen vacancies-rich Co3O4 nanoarrays grow on nickel foam as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    7. Yuan, Rong-hua & He, Yun & He, Wei & Ni, Meng & Leung, Michael K.H., 2019. "Bifunctional electrocatalytic activity of La0.8Sr0.2MnO3-based perovskite with the A-site deficiency for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in alkaline media," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    8. Trocino, Stefano & Lo Faro, Massimiliano & Zignani, Sabrina Campagna & Antonucci, Vincenzo & Aricò, Antonino Salvatore, 2019. "High performance solid-state iron-air rechargeable ceramic battery operating at intermediate temperatures (500–650 °C)," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 386-394.
    9. Pei, Pucheng & Huang, Shangwei & Chen, Dongfang & Li, Yuehua & Wu, Ziyao & Ren, Peng & Wang, Keliang & Jia, Xiaoning, 2019. "A high-energy-density and long-stable-performance zinc-air fuel cell system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 124-129.
    10. Xu, Nengneng & Zhang, Yanxing & Wang, Yudong & Wang, Min & Su, Tianshun & Coco, Cameron A. & Qiao, Jinli & Zhou, Xiao-Dong, 2020. "Hierarchical bifunctional catalysts with tailored catalytic activity for high-energy rechargeable Zn-air batteries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    11. Bizon, Nicu, 2019. "Real-time optimization strategies of Fuel Cell Hybrid Power Systems based on Load-following control: A new strategy, and a comparative study of topologies and fuel economy obtained," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 444-460.
    12. Rousseau, Raphaël & Etcheverry, Luc & Roubaud, Emma & Basséguy, Régine & Délia, Marie-Line & Bergel, Alain, 2020. "Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC): Strengths, weaknesses and research needs from electrochemical engineering standpoint," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    13. Zhou, Xuejun & Tang, Sheng & Yin, Yan & Sun, Shuihui & Qiao, Jinli, 2016. "Hierarchical porous N-doped graphene foams with superior oxygen reduction reactivity for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 459-467.
    14. Bizon, Nicu, 2019. "Hybrid power sources (HPSs) for space applications: Analysis of PEMFC/Battery/SMES HPS under unknown load containing pulses," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 14-37.
    15. Tang, Raymond Chong Ong & Jang, Jer-Huan & Lan, Tzu-Hsuan & Wu, Jung-Chen & Yan, Wei-Mon & Sangeetha, Thangavel & Wang, Chin-Tsan & Ong, Hwai Chyuan & Ong, Zhi Chao, 2020. "Review on design factors of microbial fuel cells using Buckingham's Pi Theorem," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    16. Lu Zhang & Yongfeng Liu & Pucheng Pei & Xintong Liu & Long Wang & Yuan Wan, 2022. "Variation Characteristic Analysis of Water Content at the Flow Channel of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-20, April.
    17. Abel Rubio & Wilton Agila & Leandro González & Jonathan Aviles-Cedeno, 2023. "Distributed Intelligence in Autonomous PEM Fuel Cell Control," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-25, June.
    18. Hu, Haowen & Ou, Kai & Yuan, Wei-Wei, 2023. "Fused multi-model predictive control with adaptive compensation for proton exchange membrane fuel cell air supply system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    19. Hou, Junbo & Yang, Min & Ke, Changchun & Zhang, Junliang, 2020. "Control logics and strategies for air supply in PEM fuel cell engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    20. Jung, Chi-Young & Kim, Tae-Hyun & Kim, Wha-Jung & Yi, Sung-Chul, 2016. "Computational analysis of the zinc utilization in the primary zinc-air batteries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 694-704.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:197:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220302887. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.