Sustainable Energy and Artificial Intelligence

Water Balance and Management of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with Different Material Properties and Geometries

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

iman khazaee
Hamid Sabadbafan

Faculty of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.61186/seai.2409-1007
Abstract
While studying fuel cells, managing the amount of water and removing its excess, is crutial.  Nano materials used in the membrane, catalyst and gas diffusion layers, as well as the thickness of those layers, could have different effects on water management and cell performance. In the current study, these issues were investigated theoretically with a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) with 4-Serpentine flow channels. The geometries of the channels were rectangular and triangular, and the active area of the cell was 24.8cm2. Pure Hydrogen and Oxygen were used on both sides. A complete three-dimensional and two-phase model was used for the numerical solution. To validate the solution, an experimental setup was designed to compare the simulation results with the experimental data, and the outcome was satisfactory. The aftermath shows an increased cell performance either by enhancing the thickness of the gas diffusion layers or reducing the thickness of the membrane in both rectangular and triangular channel geometry. Furthermore, under identical conditions, cell performance with rectangular channel is better than the one with the triangular channel.

Highlights

  • Investigation new geometries of a fuel cell.
  • The effect of geometry on current density and performance.
  • The effect of Nano material properties on current density and performance.
  • Seeing the interacting and complex electrochemical phenomena.

Keywords

Proton Exchange Membrane
Channel Geometry
Layer Thickness
4-Serpentine
Energy
Subjects
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Sustainable Energy and Artificial Intelligence
Volume 1, Issue 1
Winter 2025
Pages 25-35

  • Receive Date 16 September 2024
  • Revise Date 27 November 2024
  • Accept Date 24 December 2024
  • First Publish Date 25 December 2024

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