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Performance investigation of PEMFC with rectangle blockages in Gas Channel based on field synergy principle

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Abstract

This work, using three-dimension proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) model combined with theoretical analysis, is mainly to improve the performance of PEMFC through optimizations of fuel cell structure, adding rectangle blockages in the gas channel. Performance comparison, velocity distribution, interface reactant concentration difference, and pressure drop have been studied in the paper. The result shows that, longitudinal vortices would appear and the performance could be improved with the addition of blockages in the gas channel, especially at high current density with closer arrangement. According to field synergy principle, average mass transfer synergy angle could prove the superiority of optimized structure in the ability of mass transfer. Besides, a novel physical quantity, effective mass transfer coefficient, has been proposed. The effective mass transfer coefficient, is the ability of mass transfer in the direction of electrochemical reaction in PEMFC, which could also give mechanism explanation for the performance improvement.

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Abbreviations

cp :

Specific heat capacity J·kg−1·k−1

ck :

Concentration of species i kmol·m−3

cr :

Condensation rate s−1

cf :

Concentration of sulfonic acid ions kmol·m−3

de :

Equivalent diameter m

D:

Diffusion coefficient m2·s−1

Deff :

Effective diffusion coefficient m2·s−1

F:

Faraday constant 9.6487 × 107 C·kmol−1

hreact :

Net enthalpy change due to the electrochemical reactions W·m−2·k−1

hL :

Enthalpy change due to condensation/vaporization of water W·m−2·k−1

I:

Current density A·cm−2

k:

Permeability

keff :

Effective thermal conductivity W/(m·K)

L:

Length m

Mi :

Molecular weight of species i kg·kmol−1

nf :

Charge number of sulfonic acid ions

P:

Pressure N·m−2

Pwv :

Pressure of water vapor N·m−2

Psat :

Pressure of saturated water N·m−2

R:

Gas constant 8.314 J·mol−1·k−1

Rohm :

Ohmic resistivity of media Ω·m

Rref :

Reference volumetric transfer current density A·m−3

Ran :

Anode volumetric transfer current density A·m−3

Rcat :

Cathode volumetric transfer current density A·m−3

s:

Liquid volume fraction

S:

Source term of governing equations

t:

Time s

T:

Temperature oC

u,v:

Velocity components in x, y directions m·s−1

α:

Transfer coefficient

β:

Effective mass transfer coefficient

γ:

Concentration dependence

ε:

porosity

η:

Overpotential V

μ:

Dynamic viscosity kg·m−1·s−1

ρ:

Density kg·m−3

σ:

Electrical conductivity Ω−1·m−1

φ:

Electric potential V

τg :

Gaseous permeability m2

τp :

Hydraulic permeability m2

τφ :

Electrokinetic permeability m2

θ:

Mass transfer synergy angle °

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Acknowledgements

This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51736004 and 51776079) and the National Key Research and Development Program of China (NO. 2017YFB0603501-3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Jun Shen & Zhichun Liu

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139-4307, USA

    Lingping Zeng

Authors
  1. Jun Shen
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  2. Lingping Zeng
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  3. Zhichun Liu
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  4. Wei Liu
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Correspondence to Zhichun Liu.

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Shen, J., Zeng, L., Liu, Z. et al. Performance investigation of PEMFC with rectangle blockages in Gas Channel based on field synergy principle. Heat Mass Transfer 55, 811–822 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2473-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2473-5

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