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Numerical estimation of the effective electrical conductivity in carbon paper diffusion media

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  • Zamel, Nada
  • Li, Xianguo
  • Shen, Jun

Abstract

The transport of electrons through the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells has a significant impact on the optimal design and operation of PEM fuel cells and is directly affected by the anisotropic nature of the carbon paper material. In this study, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the GDL is used to numerically estimate the directional dependent effective electrical conductivity of the layer for various porosity values. The distribution of the fibers in the through-plane direction results in high electrical resistivity; hence, decreasing the overall effective electrical conductivity in this direction. This finding is in agreement with measured experimental data. Further, using the numerical results of this study, two mathematical expressions were proposed for the calculation of the effective electrical conductivity of the carbon paper GDL. Finally, the tortuosity factor was evaluated as 1.7 and 3.4 in the in- and through-plane directions, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Zamel, Nada & Li, Xianguo & Shen, Jun, 2012. "Numerical estimation of the effective electrical conductivity in carbon paper diffusion media," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 39-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:93:y:2012:i:c:p:39-44
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2011.08.037
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Das, Prodip K. & Li, Xianguo & Liu, Zhong-Sheng, 2010. "Effective transport coefficients in PEM fuel cell catalyst and gas diffusion layers: Beyond Bruggeman approximation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(9), pages 2785-2796, September.
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    Cited by:

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    2. 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.
    3. Yan, Xiaohui & Lin, Chen & Zheng, Zhifeng & Chen, Junren & Wei, Guanghua & Zhang, Junliang, 2020. "Effect of clamping pressure on liquid-cooled PEMFC stack performance considering inhomogeneous gas diffusion layer compression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    4. Lo, An-Ya & Hung, Chin-Te & Yu, Ningya & Kuo, Cheng-Tzu & Liu, Shang-Bin, 2012. "Syntheses of carbon porous materials with varied pore sizes and their performances as catalyst supports during methanol oxidation reaction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 66-74.
    5. Qiu, Diankai & Janßen, Holger & Peng, Linfa & Irmscher, Philipp & Lai, Xinmin & Lehnert, Werner, 2018. "Electrical resistance and microstructure of typical gas diffusion layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cell under compression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 127-137.
    6. Ye, Lingfeng & Qiu, Diankai & Peng, Linfa & Lai, Xinmin, 2022. "Microstructures and electrical conductivity properties of compressed gas diffusion layers using X-ray tomography," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    7. Pan, Mingzhang & Li, Chao & Liao, Jinyang & Lei, Han & Pan, Chengjie & Meng, Xianpan & Huang, Haozhong, 2020. "Design and modeling of PEM fuel cell based on different flow fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    8. Cao, Tao-Feng & Lin, Hong & Chen, Li & He, Ya-Ling & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2013. "Numerical investigation of the coupled water and thermal management in PEM fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1115-1125.
    9. Zhang, Heng & Xiao, Liusheng & Chuang, Po-Ya Abel & Djilali, Ned & Sui, Pang-Chieh, 2019. "Coupled stress–strain and transport in proton exchange membrane fuel cell with metallic bipolar plates," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Yanqin Chen & Chao Jiang & Chongdu Cho, 2019. "Characterization of Effective In-Plane Electrical Resistivity of a Gas Diffusion Layer in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells through Freeze–Thaw Thermal Cycles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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