The Efficacy of Novel Designs on the Proficiency of Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 PhD student, Mechanical Engineering Department, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

2 دانشگاه ارومیه*دانشکده فنی و مهندسی

3 Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

4 Mechanical Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, Iran

Abstract

Numerical simulation is extensively used in the many industries to investigate transport phenomena inside channels with variant dimensions to save time and cost.  In this paper, novel designs for cylindrical polymer fuel cell in the numerical and three-dimensional form are presented. In the simulation of these models, finite volume method is used. Thereafter, novel designs are used to increase the proficiency of polymer electrolyte fuel cell. In this study at first, the effect of semi-circular prominent gas diffusion layers is studied. By locating these prominences on gas diffusion layers, this fact is observed that the performance of fuel cell is enhanced in same condition. However, the optimum size of the prominences is also investigated in the present work. By reaching the magnitude of the radius to 0.55 mm, the flow velocity exceeds the desired magnitude. By this way the diffusion of species impressed negatively. Then, the effect of gradual changes in cross-section, the geometrical configuration of cell parts on species diffusion, the output current density is put under careful study. The results displayed the optimal performance is belong to the cylindrical fuel cell with elliptical cross-section. Wider transport region and lower drop quantity in identical volume for reactive gases to pass to the reactive domain are the reasons for optimal function.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] M. Ecker, J. B. Gerschler, J. Vogel, S. Käbitz, F. Hust, P. Dechent, and D. U. Sauer, Analyzing calendar aging data towards a lifetime prediction model for lithium-ion batteries, in:  nth Electric Vehicle Symposium 2012, EVES 2012, Los Angeles, CA, US, May 6-9, 2012, pp. 47-57.
[2] B. Pivovar, Catalysts for fuel cell transportation and hydrogen related uses, Nature Catalysis, 2(7) (2019) 562-565.
[3] S.R. Nima Ahmadi, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, in, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2019.
[4] H. Samanipour, N. Ahmadi, I. Mirzaee, M. Abbasalizade, The Study of Cylindrical Polymer Fuel Cell's Performance and the Investigation of Gradual Geometry Changes' Effect on Its Performance, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, 63(3) (2019) 513-526.
[5] N. Ahmadi, S. Rezazadeh, I. Mirzaee, Study the effect of various operating parameters of proton exchange membrane, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, 59(3) (2015) 221-235.
[6] T. Van Nguyen, Modeling two-phase flow in the porous electrodes of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using the interdigitated flow fields, in:  Tutorials in Electrochemical Engineering-Mathematical Modeling: Proceedings of the International Symposium, The Electrochemical Society, 1999, pp. 222.
[7] S. Korkut, M.S. Kilic, S. Uzuncar, B. Hazer, Novel Graphene-Modified Poly (styrene-b-isoprene-b-styrene) Enzymatic Fuel Cell with Operation in Plant Leaves, Analytical Letters, 49(14) (2016) 2322-2336.
[8] N. Ahmadi, S. Rezazadeh, I. Mirzaee, N. Pourmahmoud, Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic analysis of the conventional PEM fuel cell and investigation of prominent gas diffusion layers effect, Journal of mechanical science and technology, 26(8) (2012) 2247-2257.
[9] F.A. Al‐Sulaiman, F. Hamdullahpur, I. Dincer, Trigeneration: a comprehensive review based on prime movers, International journal of energy research, 35(3) (2011) 233-258.
[10] S. Martemianov, Gueguen, M., Grandidier, J., & Bograchev, D, Mechanical effects in PEM fuel cell: application to modeling of assembly procedure, Journal of Applied Fluid Mechanics, 2(2) (2009) 49-54.
[11] N. Ahmadi, N. Pourmahmoud, I. Mirzaee, S. Rezazadeh, Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic study on performance of polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) in different cell potential, Iranian Journal of Science and Technology. Transactions of Mechanical Engineering, 36(M2) (2012) 129.
[12] W. Chang, J. Hwang, F. Weng, S. Chan, Effect of clamping pressure on the performance of a PEM fuel cell, Journal of Power Sources, 166(1) (2007) 149-154.
[13] N. Ahmadi, H. Taraghi, M. Sadeghiazad, A numerical study of a three-dimensional proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with parallel and counter flow gas channels, Iranian Journal of Science and Technology Transactions of Mechanical Engineering, 39(M2) (2015) 309-323.
[14] J.C. Amphlett, R.M. Baumert, R.F. Mann, B.A. Peppley, P.R. Roberge, T.J. Harris, Performance modeling of the Ballard Mark IV solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell I. Mechanistic model development, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 142(1) (1995) 1-8.
[15] C. Werner, L. Busemeyer, J. Kallo, The impact of operating parameters and system architecture on the water management of a multifunctional PEMFC system, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(35) (2015) 11595-11603.
[16] O.-J. Kwon, H.-S. Shin, S.-H. Cheon, B.S. Oh, A study of numerical analysis for PEMFC using a multiphysics program and statistical method, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 40(35) (2015) 11577-11586.
[17] D. Lee, J.W. Lim, S. Nam, I. Choi, Gasket-integrated carbon/silicone elastomer composite bipolar plate for high-temperature PEMFC, Composite Structures, 128 (2015) 284-290.
[18] F.A. Uribe, S. Gottesfeld, T.A. Zawodzinski, Effect of ammonia as potential fuel impurity on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 149(3) (2002) A293-A296.
[19] E.A. Ticianelli, C.R. Derouin, S. Srinivasan, Localization of platinum in low catalyst loading electrodes to to attain high power densities in SPE fuel cells, Journal of electroanalytical chemistry and interfacial electrochemistry, 251(2) (1988) 275-295.
[20] S. Rezazadeh, H. Sadeghi, N. Ahmadi, Numerical investigation of step-liked bipolar plates effect on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance, in:  2017 International Conference on Engineering and Technology (ICET), IEEE, 2017, pp. 1-11.
[21] D. Natarajan, T. Van Nguyen, A two-dimensional, two-phase, multicomponent, transient model for the cathode of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell using conventional gas distributors, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, 148(12) (2001) A1324-A1335.
[22] N. Ahmadi, S. Rezazadeh, M. Yekani, A. Fakouri, I. Mirzaee, NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF INLET GASES HUMIDITY ON POLYMER EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL (PEMFC) PERFORMANCE, Transactions of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering, 37(1) (2013) 1-20.
[23] K.W. Lum, J.J. McGuirk, Three-dimensional model of a complete polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell–model formulation, validation and parametric studies, Journal of Power Sources, 143(1-2) (2005) 103-124.
[24] D.H. Ahmed, H.J. Sung, Effects of channel geometrical configuration and shoulder width on PEMFC performance at high current density, Journal of Power Sources, 162(1) (2006) 327-339.
[25] M. Gholizadeh, M. Ghazikhani, I. Khazaee, Experimental study of humidity changes on the performance of an elliptical single four-channel PEM fuel cell, Heat and Mass Transfer, 53(1) (2017) 233-239.
[26] N. Ahmadi, A. Dadvand, S. Rezazadeh, I. Mirzaee, Analysis of the operating pressure and GDL geometrical configuration effect on PEM fuel cell performance, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 38(8) (2016) 2311-2325.
[27] S. Ebrahimi, R. Roshandel, K. Vijayaraghavan, Power density optimization of PEMFC cathode with non-uniform catalyst layer by Simplex method and numerical simulation, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41(47) (2016) 22260-22273.
[28] N.J. Cooper, A.D. Santamaria, M.K. Becton, J.W. Park, Investigation of the performance improvement in decreasing aspect ratio interdigitated flow field PEMFCs, Energy conversion and management, 136 (2017) 307-317.
[29] W.-M. Yan, H.-Y. Li, W.-C. Weng, Transient mass transport and cell performance of a PEM fuel cell, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 107 (2017) 646-656.
[30] J.X. Liu, H. Guo, F. Ye, C.F. Ma, Two-dimensional analytical model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, Energy, 119 (2017) 299-308.
[31] N. Ahmadi, A. Dadvand, I. Mirzaei, S. Rezazadeh, Modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with circular and elliptical cross‐section gas channels: a novel procedure, International Journal of Energy Research, 42(8) (2018) 2805-2822.
[32] N. Ahmadi, S. Rezazadeh, A. Dadvand, I. Mirzaee, Modelling of gas transport in proton exchange membrane fuel cells, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Energy, 170(4) (2016) 163-179.
[33] E. Shakerinejad, M. Kayhani, M. Nazari, A. Tamayol, Increasing the performance of gas diffusion layer by insertion of small hydrophilic layer in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 43(4) (2018) 2410-2428.
[34] M. Nazari, E. Shakerinejad, M. Kayhani, Tailored Surface Wettability of Gas Diffusion Layer in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells: Proposing a Pore Scale‐Two Phase Design, Fuel Cells, 18(6) (2018) 698-710.
[35] M. Afra, M. Nazari, M.H. Kayhani, M. Sharifpur, J. Meyer, 3D experimental visualization of water flooding in proton exchange membrane fuel cells, Energy, 175 (2019) 967-977.
[36] agupubs, agupubs, in:  Effects of wind‐powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on stratospheric ozone and global climate, 2008.
[37] N. Zamel, X. Li, Effective transport properties for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells–with a focus on the gas diffusion layer, Progress in energy and combustion science, 39(1) (2013) 111-146.
[38] J. Ge, H. Liu, A three-dimensional two-phase flow model for a liquid-fed direct methanol fuel cell, Journal of Power Sources, 163(2) (2007) 907-915.
[39] S. Litster, N. Djilali, Mathematical modelling of ambient air-breathing fuel cells for portable devices, Electrochimica Acta, 52(11) (2007) 3849-3862.
[40] V. Gurau, H. Liu, S. Kakac, Two‐dimensional model for proton exchange membrane fuel cells, AIChE Journal, 44(11) (1998) 2410-2422.
[41] N.A. Sajad Rezazadeh, Nader Pourmahmoud, Iraj Mirzaee, Two dimensional numerical analysis of operating and geometrical parameters effect on the fuel cell performance, International Journal of Heat and Technology, 31(2) (2013) 43-50.
[42] H. Guo, H. Chen, F. Ye, C.F. Ma, Baffle shape effects on mass transfer and power loss of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with different baffled flow channels, International Journal of Energy Research, 43(7) (2019) 2737-2755.
[43] R.B. Ferreira, Falcão, D. S., Oliveira, V. B., & Pinto, A. M. F, A one‐dimensional and two‐phase flow model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, ournal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, 90(9) (2015) 1547-1551.
[44] J.-K. Kuo, T.-H. Yen, Three-dimensional numerical analysis of PEM fuel cells with straight and wave-like gas flow fields channels, Journal of Power Sources, 177(1) (2008) 96-103.
[45] P. Chavan, Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, International Journal of Latest Trends in Engineering and Technology (IJLTET), 7(3) (2016) 192-196.
[46] S.R. Mehdi Mehrabi , Mohsen Sharifpur , Josua P. Meyer, Institutional Repository of the University of Pretoria, in:  Proceedings of the ASME 2012 10th Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference FuelCell, 2012, San Diego, CA, USA, July 23, 2013, pp. 447-452.
[47] L. Wang, A. Husar, T. Zhou, H. Liu, A parametric study of PEM fuel cell performances, International journal of hydrogen energy, 28(11) (2003) 1263-1272.
[48] M.A.S. Al-Baghdadi, H.A.S. Al-Janabi, Influence of the design parameters in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell on the mechanical behavior of the polymer membrane, Energy & fuels, 21(4) (2007) 2258-2267.
[49] L. Karpenko-Jereb, C. Sternig, C. Fink, V. Hacker, A. Theiler, R. Tatschl, Theoretical study of the influence of material parameters on the performance of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, Journal of power sources, 297 (2015) 329-343.
[50] E. Antolini, R. Passos, E.A. Ticianelli, Effects of the carbon powder characteristics in the cathode gas diffusion layer on the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells, Journal of Power Sources, 109(2) (2002) 477-482.
[51] N. Ahmadi, S. Rostami, Enhancing the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell by optimizing the operating parameter, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, 41(5) (2019) 220.
[52] M. Yekani, M. Masoodi, N. Ahmadi, M.S. Azad, K. VAHEDI, A CFD MODEL FOR POLYMER FUEL CELL, Key Engineering Materials, Volume 1: Current State-of-the-Art on Novel Materials, 1 (2014) 71.
[53] S. Cano-Andrade, M. Von-Spakovsky, C. Rubio-Arana, Effect of Radial Plate Flow Field Distribution on Current Density in a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell, in:  ASME 2007 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Digital Collection, 2007, pp. 617-625.
[54] I. Dincer, and Canan Acar, A review on clean energy solutions for better sustainability, International Journal of Energy Research, 5(39) (2015) 585-606.
[55] D.E. Curtin, Robert D. Lousenberg, Timothy J. Henry, Paul C, Advanced materials for improved PEMFC performance and life, Journal of power Sources, 1-2(131) (2004) 41-48.
[56] A. Mohammadi-Ahmar, B. Osanloo, A. Solati, J. Ghasemi, Performance improvement of the circular tubular PEMFC by using different architectures and number of layers, Energy conversion and management, 128 (2016) 238-249.
[57] J.B.S. Christian, Sean P. E, Tungsten Cathode Catalyst for PEMFC, in, United States. Department of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. USDOE - Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE), OSRAM SYLVANIA Products Inc. Place of Publication: United States, 2006, pp. 1-22.
[58] M. Afzal, Mohsin Saleemi, Baoyuan Wang, Chen Xia, Wei Zhang, Yunjuan He, Jeevan Jayasuriya, and Bin Zhu, Fabrication of novel electrolyte-layer free fuel cell with semi-ionic conductor (Ba0. 5Sr0. 5Co0. 8Fe0. 2O3− δ-Sm0. 2Ce0. 8O1. 9) and Schottky barrier, Journal of Power Sources, 1(328) (2016) 136-142.
[59] A. Solati, B. Nasiri, A. Mohammadi-Ahmar, K. Mohammadi, A.H. Safari, Numerical investigation of the effect of different layers configurations on the performance of radial PEM fuel cells, Renewable Energy,  (2019).
[60] W. Yang, T. Zhao, A two-dimensional, two-phase mass transport model for liquid-feed DMFCs, Electrochimica Acta, 52(20) (2007) 6125-6140.
[61] N. Mendis, K. M. Muttaqi, and Sarath Perera, Management of low-and high-frequency power components in demand-generation fluctuations of a DFIG-based wind-dominated RAPS system using hybrid energy storage, IEEE transactions on industry applications, 3(50) (2013) 2258-2268.
[62] R.R.F. Mahmoodi, Transient Three-dimensional Simulation of a Metal Hydride Hydrogen Storage Tank Interconnected to a PEM Fuel Cell by Heat Pipes, Iranian Journal of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell (IJHFC)
2(6) (2019) 117-132.
[63] S.Y. Xingwen Yu, Recent advances in activity and durability enhancement of Pt/C catalytic cathode in PEMFC, Journal of Power Sources, 1(172) (2007) 133-144.
 
AUT Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 4, Issue 3
September 2020
Pages 331-346

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics