Experimental Investigation of Water Level Control System of Liquid-Gas Separator in the Fuel Cell

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Babol (Noshirvani) University of Technology

2 Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

3 Fuel Cell Technology Research Laboratory, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Fereydounkenar, Iran.

4 Malek Ashtar University of Technology

Abstract

Water is the product of the interaction between reactants in the fuel cell. The purpose of this study is to introduce a water level control system that prevents the loss of reactant gases by improving the process of water separation from these gases. In this paper, due to fuel cell characteristics and construction constraints, the performance of a venturi-based flow control system is quantified. Effective parameters for controlling the discharge valve, such as the length of the connection path, the angle of the sensor, the time lags, have been investigated. The path length check showed that if the path length being too high, the pressure changes oscillate, failing to establish a pressure condition for the minimum critical time, and the system loses its performance. Finally, in order to control the water level control system automatically, relations are proposed based on the pressure. The performance of the fuel cell has been investigated at 0.4 to 2 bar and the system is efficient in this range. The sensor angle only affects the maximum critical time, somehow reaches its maximum by placing the sensor at the 90-degree angle. In addition, according to the tests performed, the time between 0.3 and 0.5 seconds is recommended forthe minimum critical time.

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References

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Amirkabir Journal of Mechanical Engineering
Volume 53, Issue 1 (Special Issue)
April 2021
Pages 589-604

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