Investigation of the liquid water distributions in a 50 cm2 PEM fuel cell: Effects of reactants relative humidity, current density, and cathode stoichiometry

A 50 cm2 commercial PEM fuel cell has been used to investigate the effects of a set of different operating conditions on the resulting liquid water distributions in the cell. A comprehensive matrix of operating conditions was analyzed, varying the reactants relative humidity (anode and cathode), cathode stoichiometry, and cell current density. Neutron imaging was used to determine the liquid water distributions within the cell for each operating condition. The obtained neutron radiographs were post-processed and analyzed in order to assess the effects of the different operating conditions. Cell voltage and cell resistance (High Frequency Resistance) were also monitored during the experiments and included in the analysis. Overall, the well-known water distributions corresponding to serpentine flow fields were observed, featuring a progressive water accumulation along the gas flow and towards the outlet port. Cathode channels were showing water accumulation. It was found that the cathode relative humidity had a much larger effect on the cell water content and overall performance than the anode relative humidity for this particular cell.

[1]  Alfredo Iranzo,et al.  Validation of a three dimensional PEM fuel cell CFD model using local liquid water distributions measured with neutron imaging , 2014 .

[2]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Water removal from a PEFC during gas purge , 2008 .

[3]  Jiujun Zhang,et al.  A review of water flooding issues in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell , 2008 .

[4]  A. Wokaun,et al.  Neutron Imaging Resolution Improvements Optimized for Fuel Cell Applications , 2010 .

[5]  H.-J. Neef,et al.  International overview of hydrogen and fuel cell research , 2009 .

[6]  Dai-jun Yang,et al.  A review on water balance in the membrane electrode assembly of proton exchange membrane fuel cells , 2009 .

[7]  Aimy Bazylak,et al.  Liquid water visualization in PEM fuel cells: A review , 2009 .

[8]  Abdul-Ghani Olabi,et al.  Design of experiment study of the parameters that affect performance of three flow plate configurations of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell , 2010 .

[9]  D. Wilkinson,et al.  A critical review of two-phase flow in gas flow channels of proton exchange membrane fuel cells , 2010 .

[10]  A. Wokaun,et al.  Characterizing Local O2 Diffusive Losses in GDLs of PEFCs Using Simplified Flow Field Patterns (“2D”,“1D”,“0D”) , 2013 .

[11]  Alfredo Iranzo,et al.  Liquid water preferential accumulation in channels of PEM fuel cells with multiple serpentine flow fields , 2014 .

[12]  Jer‐Huan Jang,et al.  Effects of operating conditions on the performances of individual cell and stack of PEM fuel cell , 2008 .

[13]  A. Iranzo,et al.  Layer by Layer Segmentation of Water Distribution from Neutron Imaging of Large Scale Cells , 2015 .

[14]  Alexander Wokaun,et al.  Simultaneous neutron imaging of six operating PEFCs: Experimental set-up and study of the MPL effect , 2012 .

[15]  J. Owejan,et al.  Accumulation and Removal of Liquid Water in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 2009 .

[16]  Zhiqiang Gao,et al.  Maximum power efficiency operation and generalized predictive control of PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell , 2014 .

[17]  Jun Shen,et al.  A review of PEM fuel cell durability: Degradation mechanisms and mitigation strategies , 2008 .

[18]  Xianguo Li,et al.  Review of bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells: Flow-field designs , 2005 .

[19]  A. Vahidi,et al.  A review of the main parameters influencing long-term performance and durability of PEM fuel cells , 2008 .

[20]  Thomas A. Trabold,et al.  Effects of Flow Field and Diffusion Layer Properties on Water Accumulation in a PEM Fuel Cell , 2007 .

[21]  C. Siegel.  Review of computational heat and mass transfer modeling in polymer-electrolyte-membrane (PEM) fuel cells , 2008 .

[22]  C. Hochenauer,et al.  Water droplet accumulation and motion in PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell mini-channels , 2012 .

[23]  A. Iranzo,et al.  A novel approach coupling neutron imaging and numerical modelling for the analysis of the impact of water on fuel cell performance , 2014 .

[24]  Chao-Yang Wang,et al.  Fundamental models for fuel cell engineering. , 2004, Chemical reviews.

[25]  Shohji Tsushima,et al.  In situ Diagnostics for Water Transport in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 2011 .

[26]  Nathan P. Siegel,et al.  In Situ High-Resolution Neutron Radiography of Cross-Sectional Liquid Water Profiles in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 2008 .

[27]  F. Rosa,et al.  Experimental fuel cell performance analysis under different operating conditions and bipolar plate designs , 2010 .

[28]  Xianguo Li,et al.  Water transport in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells , 2011 .

[29]  B. Wetton,et al.  Water Management in PEM Fuel Cells , 2004 .

[30]  T. Ohsaka,et al.  Exploring the effects of symmetrical and asymmetrical relative humidity on the performance of H2/air PEM fuel cell at different temperatures , 2007 .

[31]  P. Boillat,et al.  Local Characterization of PEFCs by Differential Cells: Systematic Variations of Current and Asymmetric Relative Humidity , 2014 .

[32]  D. Brett,et al.  Membrane resistance and current distribution measurements under various operating conditions in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell , 2007 .

[33]  Cheng-Ching Yu,et al.  Operation-relevant modeling of an experimental proton exchange membrane fuel cell , 2007 .