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Water management and structure optimization study of nickel metal foam as flow distributors in proton exchange membrane fuel cell

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  • Chen, Xi
  • Yang, Chen
  • Sun, Yun
  • Liu, Qinxiao
  • Wan, Zhongmin
  • Kong, Xiangzhong
  • Tu, Zhengkai
  • Wang, Xiaodong

Abstract

In order to tackle the water flooding issue in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the effects of structure parameters of nickel metal foam on water management and the performance of PEMFC were experimentally investigated. Experimental results indicated that when compression ratio of nickel metal foam on cathode is beyond 0.69, the voltage of PEMFC is completely stable in a 3-hour constant current density test. Furthermore, the performance of PEMFC enhances with the rise of compression ratio on cathode. However, there is an optimal compression ratio of nickel metal foam on anode, namely 0.38. Regarding PPI (pores per inch) of nickel metal foam, it has been found that there is an optimal PPI on cathode, namely 75, due to the synergic effect between the distribution of reactant gas and water management in nickel metal foam flow fields with different PPIs. In contrast with cathode, a higher PPI of nickel metal foam results in better performance on anode. Compared with the case that uncompressed nickel metal foam with 110 PPI for anode and cathode, the maximum power density and energy conversion efficiency of the optimized metal foam fuel cell, namely 110 PPI and compression ratio of 0.38 for anode and 75 PPI and compression ratio of 0.75 for cathode, increase by 9.8% and 4.6%, respectively. In order to further intensify the performance of PEMFC, the effect of assembly force was considered. Since nickel metal foam could protect the MEA, a higher assembly force can be tolerated to obtain better performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Xi & Yang, Chen & Sun, Yun & Liu, Qinxiao & Wan, Zhongmin & Kong, Xiangzhong & Tu, Zhengkai & Wang, Xiaodong, 2022. "Water management and structure optimization study of nickel metal foam as flow distributors in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:309:y:2022:i:c:s0306261921016731
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.118448
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    2. Yuzhen Xia & Hangwei Lei & Xiaojun Wu & Guilin Hu & Hao Pan & Baizeng Fang, 2023. "Design of New Test System for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-11, January.
    3. Yin, Cong & Cao, Jishen & Tang, Qilin & Su, Yanghuai & Wang, Renkang & Li, Kai & Tang, Hao, 2022. "Study of internal performance of commercial-size fuel cell stack with 3D multi-physical model and high resolution current mapping," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    4. Liu, Zhao & Chen, Huicui & Zhang, Tong, 2022. "Review on system mitigation strategies for start-stop degradation of automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    5. Lian, Yunsong & Zhu, Zhengchao & You, Changtang & Lin, Liangliang & Lin, Fengtian & Lin, Le & Huang, Yating & Zhou, Wei, 2023. "Structural optimization of fiber porous self-humidifying flow field plates applied to proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    6. Yao, Jing & Wu, Zhen & Wang, Huan & Yang, Fusheng & Xuan, Jin & Xing, Lei & Ren, Jianwei & Zhang, Zaoxiao, 2022. "Design and multi-objective optimization of low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells with efficient water recovery and high electrochemical performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    7. Wan, Zhongmin & Yan, Hanzhang & Sun, Yun & Yang, Chen & Chen, Xi & Kong, Xiangzhong & Chen, Yiyu & Tu, Zhengkai & Wang, Xiaodong, 2023. "Thermal management improvement of air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell by using metal foam flow field," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    8. Sun, Feng & Su, Dandan & Li, Ping & Lin, Fanxin & Miu, Guodong & Wan, Qi & Yin, Yujie, 2024. "Effects of three-dimensional type flow fields on mass transfer and performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).

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