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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

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

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.

Cite this article

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

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