IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v263y2023ipcs0360544222027839.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance simulation and key parameters in-plane distribution analysis of a commercial-size PEMFC

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Zhuo
  • Wang, Qi-yao
  • Bai, Fan
  • Chen, Li
  • Tao, Wen-quan

Abstract

Commercial fuel cell stacks often have a large electrode area to obtain a high power output. Uniformity in-plane distribution of vital physical quantities plays a key role in improving cell performance and avoiding degradation. In this study, a three-dimensional two-fluid multiphase model is adopted to analyze the in-plane distribution characteristics of key parameters (reactant concentration, temperature, local current density, and membrane water content) for a large-scale PEMFC with an active area larger than 300 cm2. The particular feature of the PEMFC studied is that there are gap zones near the edge between the bipolar plate and gas diffusion layer and membrane. The results show that for the structure without gap zones, the cell performance improved by about 1%. The non-uniformity of cathode reactant distribution is generally higher than that of the anode; The non-uniformity of temperature in the x direction is higher than that in the y direction (flow-direction). With the increase of average current density, the temperature in the membrane increases, and the membrane dehydrates gradually. The flow direction of coolant has a significant impact on the cell performance. When coolant is in the same direction as hydrogen, the cell performance decreases by about 3.75% at 0.8 A/cm2.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Zhuo & Wang, Qi-yao & Bai, Fan & Chen, Li & Tao, Wen-quan, 2023. "Performance simulation and key parameters in-plane distribution analysis of a commercial-size PEMFC," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PC).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:263:y:2023:i:pc:s0360544222027839
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.125897
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544222027839
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2022.125897?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xiong, Kangning & Wu, Wei & Wang, Shuangfeng & Zhang, Lin, 2021. "Modeling, design, materials and fabrication of bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cell: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    2. Zhong, Di & Lin, Rui & Jiang, Zhenghua & Zhu, Yike & Liu, Dengchen & Cai, Xin & Chen, Liang, 2020. "Low temperature durability and consistency analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack based on comprehensive characterizations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    3. Yin, Cong & Gao, Yan & Li, Ting & Xie, Guangyou & Li, Kai & Tang, Hao, 2020. "Study of internal multi-parameter distributions of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with segmented cell device and coupled three-dimensional model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 650-662.
    4. Lin, Chen & Yan, Xiaohui & Wei, Guanghua & Ke, Changchun & Shen, Shuiyun & Zhang, Junliang, 2019. "Optimization of configurations and cathode operating parameters on liquid-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks by orthogonal method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Lin, Rui & Zhu, Yike & Ni, Meng & Jiang, Zhenghua & Lou, Diming & Han, Lihang & Zhong, Di, 2019. "Consistency analysis of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack during cold start," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 420-432.
    6. Kui Jiao & Jin Xuan & Qing Du & Zhiming Bao & Biao Xie & Bowen Wang & Yan Zhao & Linhao Fan & Huizhi Wang & Zhongjun Hou & Sen Huo & Nigel P. Brandon & Yan Yin & Michael D. Guiver, 2021. "Designing the next generation of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells," Nature, Nature, vol. 595(7867), pages 361-369, July.
    7. Chen, Huicui & Liu, Biao & Zhang, Tong & Pei, Pucheng, 2019. "Influencing sensitivities of critical operating parameters on PEMFC output performance and gas distribution quality under different electrical load conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Meng, Huanru & Yu, Xianxian & Luo, Xiaobing & Tu, Zhengkai, 2024. "Modelling and operation characteristics of air-cooled PEMFC with metallic bipolar plate used in unmanned aerial vehicle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    2. Zhou, Yu & Chen, Ben, 2023. "Investigation of optimization and evaluation criteria for flow field in proton exchange membrane fuel cell: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Fan, Lixin & liu, Yang & Luo, Xiaobing & Tu, Zhengkai & Chan, Siew Hwa, 2023. "A novel gas supply configuration for hydrogen utilization improvement in a multi-stack air-cooling PEMFC system with dead-ended anode," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Dongfang & Pei, Pucheng & Ren, Peng & Song, Xin & Wang, He & Zhang, Lu & Wang, Mingkai, 2022. "Analytical methods for the effect of anode nitrogen concentration on performance and voltage consistency of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    2. Zhou, Yu & Chen, Ben, 2023. "Investigation of optimization and evaluation criteria for flow field in proton exchange membrane fuel cell: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    3. Lin, Rui & Zhong, Di & Lan, Shunbo & Guo, Rong & Ma, Yunyang & Cai, Xin, 2021. "Experimental validation for enhancement of PEMFC cold start performance: Based on the optimization of micro porous layer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    4. Wu, Kangcheng & Du, Qing & Zu, Bingfeng & Wang, Yupeng & Cai, Jun & Gu, Xin & Xuan, Jin & Jiao, Kui, 2021. "Enabling real-time optimization of dynamic processes of proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Data-driven approach with semi-recurrent sliding window method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    5. Lu, Guolong & Fan, Wenxuan & Lu, Dafeng & Zhao, Taotao & Wu, Qianqian & Liu, Mingxin & Liu, Zhenning, 2024. "Lung-inspired hybrid flow field to enhance PEMFC performance: A case of dual optimization by response surface and artificial intelligence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    6. Chen, Ke & Luo, Zongkai & Zou, Guofu & He, Dandi & Xiong, Zhongzhuang & Zhou, Yu & Chen, Ben, 2024. "Multi-objective optimization of gradient gas diffusion layer structures for enhancing proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance based on response surface methodology and non-dominated sorting gen," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    7. Chen, Huicui & Zhang, Ruirui & Xia, Zhifeng & Weng, Qianyao & Zhang, Tong & Pei, Pucheng, 2023. "Experimental investigation on PEM fuel cell flooding mitigation under heavy loading condition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    8. Meng, Huanru & Yu, Xianxian & Luo, Xiaobing & Tu, Zhengkai, 2024. "Modelling and operation characteristics of air-cooled PEMFC with metallic bipolar plate used in unmanned aerial vehicle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    9. Fan, Lixin & Tu, Zhengkai & Chan, Siew Hwa, 2022. "Technological and Engineering design of a megawatt proton exchange membrane fuel cell system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    10. Yang, Liu & Cao, Chenxi & Gan, Quanquan & Pei, Hao & Zhang, Qi & Li, Ping, 2022. "Revealing failure modes and effect of catalyst layer properties for PEM fuel cell cold start using an agglomerate model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    11. Bai, Xingying & Luo, Lizhong & Huang, Bi & Huang, Zhe & Jian, Qifei, 2021. "Flow characteristics analysis for multi-path hydrogen supply within proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    12. Li, Bing & Wan, Kechuang & Xie, Meng & Chu, Tiankuo & Wang, Xiaolei & Li, Xiang & Yang, Daijun & Ming, Pingwen & Zhang, Cunman, 2022. "Durability degradation mechanism and consistency analysis for proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    13. Yang, Zirong & Jiao, Kui & Wu, Kangcheng & Shi, Weilong & Jiang, Shangfeng & Zhang, Longhai & Du, Qing, 2021. "Numerical investigations of assisted heating cold start strategies for proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    14. Gong, Fan & Yang, Xiaolong & Zhang, Xun & Mao, Zongqiang & Gao, Weitao & Wang, Cheng, 2023. "The study of Tesla valve flow field on the net power of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    15. Pengcheng Liu & Sichuan Xu, 2022. "Experimental Research on the Dynamic Characteristics and Voltage Uniformity of a PEMFC Stack under Subzero Temperatures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-14, April.
    16. Zhang, Yong & He, Shirong & Jiang, Xiaohui & Yang, Xi & Wang, Zhuo & Zhang, Shuanyang & Cao, Jing & Fang, Haoyan & Li, Qiming, 2024. "Full-scale three-dimensional simulation of air cooling metal bipolar plate proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack considering a non-isothermal multiphase model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
    17. Luo, Lizhong & Huang, Bi & Bai, Xingying & Cheng, Zongyi & Jian, Qifei, 2020. "Temperature uniformity improvement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with ultra-thin vapor chambers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    18. Zhang, Yong & He, Shirong & Jiang, Xiaohui & Xiong, Mu & Ye, Yuntao & Yang, Xi, 2023. "Three-dimensional multi-phase simulation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance considering constriction straight channel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    19. Zhang, Xiaoqing & Yang, Jiapei & Ma, Xiao & Zhuge, Weilin & Shuai, Shijin, 2022. "Modelling and analysis on effects of penetration of microporous layer into gas diffusion layer in PEM fuel cells: Focusing on mass transport," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    20. Yunjie Yang & Minli Bai & Laisuo Su & Jizu Lv & Chengzhi Hu & Linsong Gao & Yang Li & Yubai Li & Yongchen Song, 2022. "One-Dimensional Numerical Simulation of Pt-Co Alloy Catalyst Aging for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-23, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:263:y:2023:i:pc:s0360544222027839. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.