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A vapor feed methanol microfluidic fuel cell with high fuel and energy efficiency

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Yifei
  • Leung, Dennis Y.C.
  • Xuan, Jin
  • Wang, Huizhi

Abstract

In this paper, a prototype of methanol microfluidic fuel cell with vapor feed anode configuration is proposed to improve the fuel and energy efficiency of the conventional liquid feed methanol microfluidic fuel cells. Peak power density of 55.4mWcm−2 can be achieved with this prototype under room temperature, which is 30% higher than its conventional liquid feed counterpart. Moreover, an energy efficiency of 9.4% is achieved, which is 27.5 times higher than its liquid feed counterpart. This superiority on both cell performance and energy efficiency is directly benefitted from its vapor feed anode configuration, which alleviates the fuel crossover, eliminates the fuel depletion boundary layer, and avoids the bulk anolyte wastage. The tradeoff between cell performance and fuel utilization for conventional liquid feed microfluidic fuel cells is also evaded.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2015. "A vapor feed methanol microfluidic fuel cell with high fuel and energy efficiency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 456-465.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:147:y:2015:i:c:p:456-465
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.03.028
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C., 2016. "A circular stacking strategy for microfluidic fuel cells with volatile methanol fuel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 659-669.
    2. Samir De, Biswajit & Cunningham, Joshua & Khare, Neeraj & Luo, Jing-Li & Elias, Anastasia & Basu, Suddhasatwa, 2022. "Hydrogen generation and utilization in a two-phase flow membraneless microfluidic electrolyzer-fuel cell tandem operation for micropower application," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    3. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Lu, Jie & Zhao, Zhongkai & Chen, Jingxian & Xu, Peihang, 2021. "New insight on the mechanism of vibration effects in vapor-feed microfluidic fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    4. Ouyang, Tiancheng & Lu, Jie & Xu, Peihang & Hu, Xiaoyi & Chen, Jingxian, 2022. "High-efficiency fuel utilization innovation in microfluidic fuel cells: From liquid-feed to vapor-feed," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    5. Li, Li & Fan, Wenguang & Xuan, Jin & Leung, Michael K.H. & Zheng, Keqing & She, Yiyi, 2017. "Optimal design of current collectors for microfluidic fuel cell with flow-through porous electrodes: Model and experiment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 413-424.
    6. Calabriso, Andrea & Borello, Domenico & Romano, Giovanni Paolo & Cedola, Luca & Del Zotto, Luca & Santori, Simone Giovanni, 2017. "Bubbly flow mapping in the anode channel of a direct methanol fuel cell via PIV investigation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P2), pages 1245-1255.
    7. Wang, Hao-Nan & Zhu, Xun & Chen, Rong & Yang, Yang & Ye, Ding-Ding & Liao, Qiang, 2022. "Two-phase mass transport model for microfluidic fuel cell with narrow electrolyte flow channel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    8. Wang, Yifei & Luo, Shijing & Kwok, Holly Y.H. & Pan, Wending & Zhang, Yingguang & Zhao, Xiaolong & Leung, Dennis Y.C., 2021. "Microfluidic fuel cells with different types of fuels: A prospective review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    9. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2017. "A review on unitized regenerative fuel cell technologies, part B: Unitized regenerative alkaline fuel cell, solid oxide fuel cell, and microfluidic fuel cell," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 775-795.
    10. Bamgbopa, Musbaudeen O. & Almheiri, Saif & Sun, Hong, 2017. "Prospects of recently developed membraneless cell designs for redox flow batteries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 506-518.
    11. Muhammad Tanveer & Kwang-Yong Kim, 2021. "Flow Configurations of Membraneless Microfluidic Fuel Cells: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-33, June.
    12. Lu, Xu & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Wang, Huizhi & Xuan, Jin, 2017. "A high performance dual electrolyte microfluidic reactor for the utilization of CO2," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 549-559.
    13. Wang, Yifei & Leung, Dennis Y.C. & Zhang, Hao & Xuan, Jin & Wang, Huizhi, 2017. "Numerical and experimental comparative study of microfluidic fuel cells with different flow configurations: Co-flow vs. counter-flow cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 535-548.
    14. Lan, Qiao & Ye, Dingding & Zhu, Xun & Chen, Rong & Liao, Qiang, 2022. "Enhanced gas removal and cell performance of a microfluidic fuel cell by a paper separator embedded in the microchannel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PB).

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