Carcadea, E., Ismail, M.S., Ingham, D.B. et al. (6 more authors) (2021) Effects of geometrical dimensions of flow channels of a large-active-area PEM fuel cell: A CFD study. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 46 (25). pp. 13572-13582. ISSN 0360-3199
Abstract
Various flow field designs have been numerically investigated to evaluate the effect of pattern and the cross-sectional dimensions of the channel on the performance of a large active area PEM fuel cell. Three types of multiple-serpentine channels (7-channels, 11-channels and 14-channels) have been chosen for the 200 cm2 fuel cell investigated and numerically analysed by varying the width and the land of the channel. The CFD simulations showed that as the channel width decreases, as in the 14-channels serpentine case, the performance improves, especially at high current densities where the concentration losses are dominant. The optimum configuration, i.e. the 14-channels serpentine, has been manufactured and tested experimentally and a very good agreement between the experimental and modelling data was achieved. 4 channel depths have been considered (0.25, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mm) in the CFD study to determine the effects on the pressure drop and water content. Up to 7% increase in the maximum reported current density has been achieved for the smallest depth and this due to the better removal of excess liquid water and better humidification of the membrane. Also, the influence of the air flow rate has been evaluated; the current density at 0.6 V increased by around 25% when air flow rate was increased 4 times; this is attributed to better removal of excess liquid water.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | PEM fuel cell; Numerical model; Flow field design; Water management; Large active area; Performance improvement |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Mechanical Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 03 Nov 2020 10:13 |
Last Modified: | 27 Jan 2022 10:47 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.08.150 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:167586 |