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Numerical Study of Water Transport and Operating Strategy for Fuel Cells with Segmented Water Management Flow Fields

  • CHEN Chengdai ,
  • WANG Changhong ,
  • ZHENG Zijun
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  • School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China

网络出版日期: 2024-07-15

基金资助

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52176063), the International Science and Technology projects of Huangpu District of Guangzhou City (2020GH08), the Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (201907010036).

版权

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024

Numerical Study of Water Transport and Operating Strategy for Fuel Cells with Segmented Water Management Flow Fields

  • CHEN Chengdai ,
  • WANG Changhong ,
  • ZHENG Zijun
Expand
  • School of Materials and Energy, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China

Online published: 2024-07-15

Supported by

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this research from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52176063), the International Science and Technology projects of Huangpu District of Guangzhou City (2020GH08), the Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan Project (201907010036).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024

摘要

有效阴极流场设计可以实现质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)的内部水平衡和更高的电流密度输出。因此,本研究提出了一种分段式水管理流场,即一种半分离半耦合阴极(HSHC)流场,它有两个入口,却只有一个出口。采用质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)三维数值模型,研究了HSHC流场对质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)性能的影响及其运行策略。研究结果表明: 与两种常规阴极流场相比,HSHC流场在阴极化学计量比为3.25时,改善了通道内的水平衡,使电流密度提高了17.1%。这是由于 HSHC流场可以克服通道上游的失水和通道下游的积水。观察到HSHC流场中的抽水现象(DWP),其主要受通道水汽压力的影响。基于DWP,可以利用冷却通道进口流量来调节水平衡,但要避免严重脱水。另外,HSHC 流场的进口温度控制应该是电池温度>阴极通道进口温度>冷却通道进口温度>环境温度,以实现更好的水平衡。

本文引用格式

CHEN Chengdai , WANG Changhong , ZHENG Zijun . Numerical Study of Water Transport and Operating Strategy for Fuel Cells with Segmented Water Management Flow Fields[J]. 热科学学报, 2024 , 33(4) : 1577 -1589 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-024-1962-8

Abstract

The effective cathode flow field design can realize the internal water balance and higher current density output of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Therefore, a segmented water management flow field is proposed in this study, i.e. a half separated-half coupled cathode (HSHC) flow field which has two inlets but just one outlet. A 3D numerical PEMFC model is applied to study the effect of the HSHC flow field on PEMFC performance and its operating strategy in terms of operating conditions. The study results are shown as follows: Compared with the two conventional cathode flow fields, the HSHC flow field improves the water balance along the channel and increases the current density by 17.1% at a cathode stoichiometry of 3.25. It is because the HSHC flow field can overcome the water loss at channels upstream and the water accumulation at channels downstream. The draw water phenomenon (DWP) in the HSHC flow field is observed, which is mainly affected by the water vapor pressure of channel. Based on the DWP, cooling channel inlet flow rates can be used to adjust water balance, but severe water loss should be avoided. In addition, the inlet temperature control in HSHC flow field should be that cell temperature>cathode channel inlet temperature>cooling channel inlet temperature> ambient temperatures for better water balance.

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