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Effect of low gravity on water removal inside proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with different flow channel configurations

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  • Guo, Hang
  • Liu, Xuan
  • Zhao, Jian Fu
  • Ye, Fang
  • Ma, Chong Fang

Abstract

Practically investigate water removal and cell performance for PEMFCs under low gravity circumstance is an urgent task, especially as a promising power supply unit applied to space engineering. PEMFC with an in-situ optical flow field was used to explicate two-phase flow and water removal inside cathode flow field from terrestrial gravity to microgravity. The cell was tested in the vertical and horizontal flow channel orientations. A 3.6 s short-time micro-gravity circumstance was provided by National Microgravity Laboratory. Results show that gravitational level has an essential influence on gas-liquid two-phase flow characteristics for PEMFC with different configurations. The cell placed in different channel orientations also shows distinguished operating behavior because of the complicated impact of the changed gravity and configuration. Under the operating condition of a vertical flow channel orientation, accumulated water and droplets in terrestrial are pushed by oxygen flow to continuous removal toward the outlet of the fuel cell to alleviate water flooding, and the cell performance is slightly enhanced in a 3.6 s micro-gravity circumstance. Operating in a horizontal flow channel orientation, the generated water throughout the micro-gravity circumstance duration is not prone to move and flood flow channels in micro-gravity, meanwhile the cell performance is slightly deteriorated.

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  • Guo, Hang & Liu, Xuan & Zhao, Jian Fu & Ye, Fang & Ma, Chong Fang, 2016. "Effect of low gravity on water removal inside proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with different flow channel configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 926-934.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:112:y:2016:i:c:p:926-934
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2016.07.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Li, Jinguang & Ke, Yuzhi & Yuan, Wei & Bai, Yafeng & Zhang, Baotong & Liu, Zi'ang & Lin, Zhenhe & Liu, Qingsen & Tang, Yong, 2023. "Enhancement of two-phase flow and mass transport by a two-dimensional flow channel with variable cross-sections in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P2).
    3. Liao, Shuxin & Qiu, Diankai & Yi, Peiyun & Peng, Linfa & Lai, Xinmin, 2022. "Modeling of a novel cathode flow field design with optimized sub-channels to improve drainage for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    4. Guo, Hang & Zhao, Qiang & Ye, Fang, 2022. "An experimental study on gas and liquid two-phase flow in orientated-type flow channels of proton exchange membrane fuel cells by using a side-view method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 603-618.
    5. Chen, Ben & Liu, Qi & Zhang, Cheng & Liu, Yang & Shen, Jun & Tu, Zhengkai, 2022. "Numerical study on water transfer characteristics under joint effect of placement orientation and flow channel size for PEMFC with dead-ended anode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    6. Liu, Shihua & Li, Xiaoyang & Pang, Linjia & Geng, Tie & Guo, Yonggang & Jiang, Lin & Kang, Kejia & Wang, Xinchao & Liu, Zongyao, 2022. "Study on the effect of purging time on the performance of PEMFC with dead-ended anode under gravity," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 1141-1151.
    7. Zhao, Junjie & Tu, Zhengkai & Chan, Siew Hwa, 2022. "In-situ measurement of humidity distribution and its effect on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    8. Najmi, Aezid-Ul-Hassan & Anyanwu, Ikechukwu S. & Xie, Xu & Liu, Zhi & Jiao, Kui, 2021. "Experimental investigation and optimization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using different flow fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    9. Pei, Houchang & Xiao, Chenguang & Tu, Zhengkai, 2022. "Experimental study on liquid water formation characteristics in a novel transparent proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    10. Ashrafi, Moosa & Kanani, Homayoon & Shams, Mehrzad, 2018. "Numerical and experimental study of two-phase flow uniformity in channels of parallel PEM fuel cells with modified Z-type flow-fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 317-328.
    11. Yuan, Xian Ming & Guo, Hang & Liu, Jia Xing & Ye, Fang & Ma, Chong Fang, 2018. "Influence of operation parameters on mode switching from electrolysis cell mode to fuel cell mode in a unitized regenerative fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1041-1051.
    12. Liu, Shihua & Chen, Tao & Zhang, Cheng & Xie, Yi, 2020. "Study on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with dead-ended anode in gravity environment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    13. Xu, Sheng & Yin, Bifeng & Li, Zekai & Dong, Fei, 2023. "A review on gas purge of proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Mechanisms, experimental approaches, numerical approaches, and optimization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    14. Liu, Jia Xing & Guo, Hang & Ye, Fang & Ma, Chong Fang, 2017. "Two-dimensional analytical model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 299-308.
    15. Wang, Yulin & Wang, Han & Wang, Guozhuo & Li, Hua & Zhao, Yulong & He, Wei, 2023. "Enhancement of water droplet drainage performance in a cathode flow channel with baffles for a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).

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