Experimental Investigation of the Influence of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Operating Conditions on Its Performance and Water Management

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Fuel Cell Research Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 424 Hafez Ave., Tehran, Iran, P. Code 15875-4413

2 Mechanical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, 424 Hafez Ave., Tehran, Iran, P. Code 15875-4413

Abstract

In this research, the effect of anode stoichiometry, cathode stoichiometry and temperature of inlet gases on water management and performance of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is studied by means of design of experiments and direct visualization. In order to visualize the liquid water accumulation in cathode flow channels, a transparent polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is manufactured in the fuel cell research laboratory of Amirkabir University of Technology. The design of experiments is based on response surface method. Cell’s performance is recorded over the test time and a video is simultaneously captured from its transparent cathode flow channels. Then, a digital image processing technique is used to quantify channel areas that are occupied by liquid water. The area of regions containing liquid water is divided by the total area of flow channels to calculate a parameter called water coverage ratio which is then used to study flooding phenomenon. Results show that increase in cathode stoichiometry, anode stoichiometry and gas inlet temperature leads to a decrease in water coverage ratio. Also, water coverage ratio lies between 1.8 and 4.3 when an optimized produced power is reached. As proved, anode and cathode stoichiometry has to be minimized to reach the maximum produced power at a high inlet gas temperature.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 52, Issue 11
February 2021
Pages 3257-3274

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