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Impacts of Separator Thickness on Temperature Distribution and Power Generation Characteristics of a Single PEMFC Operated at Higher Temperature of 363 and 373 K

Author

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  • Akira Nishimura

    (Division of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu 514-8507, Japan)

  • Yuya Kojima

    (Division of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu 514-8507, Japan)

  • Syogo Ito

    (Division of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Mie University, 1577 Kurimamachiya-cho, Tsu 514-8507, Japan)

  • Eric Hu

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia)

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the separator thickness on not only the heat and mass transfer characteristics, but also the power generation characteristics of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with a thin polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) and thin gas diffusion layer (GDL) operated at higher temperatures of 363 and 373 K. The in-plane temperature distributions on the back of the separator at the anode and cathode, which are the opposite sides to the GDL, are measured using a thermograph at various initial cell temperatures ( T init ), relative humidity (RH) levels, and supply gas flow rates. The total voltage corresponding to the load current is measured in order to evaluate the performance of the PEMFC. As a result, it is revealed that the effect of the RH on the power generation characteristics is more significant when the separator thickness decreases. It is revealed that the power generation performance obtained at high current densities decreases with the increase in T init with thinner separator thicknesses. According to the investigation of the in-plane temperature distribution, it is clarified that the temperature decreases at corner positions in the separator with the separator thickness of 2.0 mm, while the temperature gradually increases along with the gas flow with separator thicknesses of 1.5 mm and 1.0 mm.

Suggested Citation

  • Akira Nishimura & Yuya Kojima & Syogo Ito & Eric Hu, 2022. "Impacts of Separator Thickness on Temperature Distribution and Power Generation Characteristics of a Single PEMFC Operated at Higher Temperature of 363 and 373 K," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-33, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:4:p:1558-:d:753971
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jiao, Kui & Park, Jaewan & Li, Xianguo, 2010. "Experimental investigations on liquid water removal from the gas diffusion layer by reactant flow in a PEM fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(9), pages 2770-2777, September.
    2. Saadat, Nazmus & Dhakal, Hom N. & Tjong, Jimi & Jaffer, Shaffiq & Yang, Weimin & Sain, Mohini, 2021. "Recent advances and future perspectives of carbon materials for fuel cell," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Akira Nishimura & Tatsuya Okado & Yuya Kojima & Masafumi Hirota & Eric Hu, 2020. "Impact of MPL on Temperature Distribution in Single Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell with Various Thicknesses of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-17, May.
    4. Xing, Lei & Das, Prodip K. & Song, Xueguan & Mamlouk, Mohamed & Scott, Keith, 2015. "Numerical analysis of the optimum membrane/ionomer water content of PEMFCs: The interaction of Nafion® ionomer content and cathode relative humidity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 242-257.
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    Cited by:

    1. Akira Nishimura & Nozomu Kono & Kyohei Toyoda & Daiki Mishima & Mohan Lal Kolhe, 2022. "Impact of Separator Thickness on Temperature Distribution in Single Cell of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Operated at Higher Temperature of 90 °C and 100 °C," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Hossein Pourrahmani & Hamed Shakeri & Jan Van herle, 2022. "Thermoelectric Generator as the Waste Heat Recovery Unit of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell: A Numerical Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, April.
    3. Akira Nishimura & Kyohei Toyoda & Daiki Mishima & Syogo Ito & Eric Hu, 2022. "Numerical Analysis on Impact of Thickness of PEM and GDL with and without MPL on Coupling Phenomena in PEFC Operated at Higher Temperature Such as 363 K and 373 K," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-31, August.

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