Design, manufacturing, assembling and testing of a transparent PEM fuel cell for investigation of water management and contact resistance at dead-end mode. (20th April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rahimi-Esbo, M.; Ramiar, A.; Ranjbar, A.A.; Alizadeh, E.
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 42:Number 16(2017)
• Page Start: 11673
• Page End: 11688
• Publication Date: 2017-04-20
• Subjects: Transparent PEMFC -- CFD simulation -- Water removal -- Dead-end mode -- Purge time; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.02.030
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: PEM fuel cell can operate at two different modes. At first mode the outlet of gas flow field is open and at the second mode the outlet of flow field is closed. The second mode is known as dead-end PEMFC. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with dead-ended anode and cathode can obtain high hydrogen and oxygen utilization by a comparatively simple system. Nevertheless, the accumulation of the water in anode and cathode channels can lead to a local fuel starvation degrading the performance and durability of PEMFCs. There are different methods for investigation of water management such as: neutron radiography, gas chromatography, capturing by use of X-ray and capturing by use of infrared ray. Due to high cost and many hazards these methods at most cases cannot be used. According to the above mentioned problem we recommend a transparent PEMFC as a simplest, cheapest and the most suitable method for investigation of water management. Designing and manufacturing this type of PEMFC require special techniques. In this paper at first an optimal flow field is numerically designed and according to numerical results a transparent PEMFC is designed, manufactured and tested. Furthermore the performance of PEMFC at dead-end mode and open-end mode is studied. The applied design with a higher efficiency could have a same polarization curve as open-end mode. The results showed that by setting the purge interval time on 5 s and then opening purge valve for 1 s, there isn't any degradation on PEMFC performance but for purge interval of 10 s gradual performance degradation is recorded. Graphical abstract: Highlights: A transparent PEMFC has been manufactured and tested for investigation of water management at dead-end mode. The pressure distribution on MEA is investigated using pressure film. The performance of PEMFC at dead-end mode is numerically and experimentally studied. The effect of purge time on performance of the cell is analyzed. The possibility of flooding and slug flow in terminal region is decreased using the new flow field.