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Experimental investigation of a natural circulation fuel delivery system on the performance of an air breathing direct methanol fuel cell with liquid electrolyte layer

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Abstract

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) has proven to be the most promising option for charging portable electronic devices. The performance of a DMFC depends mainly on methanol crossover (MCO) and elimination the pumping power to pump fuel greatly enhances cell performance. Hence, the current study is aimed at achieving two objectives: delivery of fuel without any parasitic power consumption (losses) and reduction of MCO; the performance of a DMFC was analyzed experimentally at different operating conditions. To pump the fuel without any external power source, the inherently developed CO2 bubbles at the anodic flow channel were utilized. In other words, byproduct of the fuel cell reactions provided the required power for pumping and hence the requirement of an external pump was eliminated. The effect of the working parameters such as reactants ‘methanol concentrations, flow rates and incorporation of liquid electrolyte (LE) between two half membrane electrode assemblies was examined on the performance of DMFC. It is observed that the incorporation of LE between two half Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEAs) electrolyte assemblies reduced the MCO in an LE-DMFC and better performance was reported when compared to conventional DMFC, at an optimal flow rate of 2 ml/min with 3M methanol concentration. Further, the effect of methanol concentration and flow rates on the cell performance is also compared and analyzed. The better performance was achieved in a conventional DMFC (8.09 mW/cm2). The corresponding LE maximum power is 8.8 mW/cm2, which is 9.14% higher in comparison with conventional DMFC value. The piled hydrophilic LE layer thickness of 1.5 mm and H2SO4 (diluted sulfuric acid) is used as LE layer and electrolyte respectively.

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Abbreviations

CDM:

Catalyst diffusion medium

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

C-DMFC:

Conventional direct methanol fuel cell

DI:

Deionized

DMFC:

Direct methanol fuel cell

FE:

Flowing electrolyte

GDL:

Gas diffusion layers

LE:

Liquid electrolyte

LE-DMFC:

Liquid electrolyte liquid electrolyte

MCO:

Methanol crossover

MPL:

Microporous layer

PEM:

Polymer Electrode Membrane

PTFE:

Polytetrafluoroethylene

SS:

Stainless steel

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Acknowledgment

The authors acknowledged financial support provided by DST-SERB, Govt. of India and TEQIP-II-CoE, National Institute of Technology Warangal, INDIA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, NIT Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, 506001, India

    SATEESH KUMAR MANUPATI & NAGA SRINIVASULU GOLAGANI

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, KITS Warangal, Warangal, Telangana, 506015 , India

    SRINIVASA REDDY BADDURI

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  1. SATEESH KUMAR MANUPATI
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Correspondence to SATEESH KUMAR MANUPATI.

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MANUPATI, S.K., GOLAGANI, N.S. & BADDURI, S.R. Experimental investigation of a natural circulation fuel delivery system on the performance of an air breathing direct methanol fuel cell with liquid electrolyte layer. Sādhanā 48, 202 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-023-02264-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12046-023-02264-3

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