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Experimental studying of the effect of active area on the performance of passive direct methanol fuel cell

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Abstract

This work experimentally studies the effect of the size and shape of active area on the performance of passive direct methanol fuel cell. The obtained results show that the cell performance strongly depends on the size and shape of active area. Experimental results of this study also demonstrate that the cell performance improves with an increase in the size of active area. Increasing the size of active area also leads to a lower internal resistance, lower OCV, and higher operating temperature. Furthermore, it was found that the smallest active area (4 cm2) produced the longest stable discharging voltage (about 16.5 h). This study also reveals that the square active area has the best performance and the highest power density compared to the rectangular and circular active areas. Finally, the results prove that the place of applying the clamping force is an important parameter that should be considered in the cell design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

    R. Hashemi

  2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    S. Yousefi

  3. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Applied Science and Technology, Babol, Iran

    M. Faraji

Authors
  1. R. Hashemi
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  2. S. Yousefi
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  3. M. Faraji
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Correspondence to S. Yousefi.

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Hashemi, R., Yousefi, S. & Faraji, M. Experimental studying of the effect of active area on the performance of passive direct methanol fuel cell. Ionics 21, 2851–2862 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-015-1479-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-015-1479-y

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