Enhancement effects of the side blockage arrangement in the flow channel on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Jun Shen
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorChangqing Du
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Fuwu Yan
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence
Fuwu Yan, Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components and Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Email: [email protected]
Zhengkai Tu, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorBen Chen
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Zhengkai Tu
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence
Fuwu Yan, Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components and Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Email: [email protected]
Zhengkai Tu, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorJun Shen
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorChangqing Du
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Fuwu Yan
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence
Fuwu Yan, Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components and Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Email: [email protected]
Zhengkai Tu, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorBen Chen
Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Zhengkai Tu
School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Correspondence
Fuwu Yan, Hubei Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Automotive Components and Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Automotive Components Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China.
Email: [email protected]
Zhengkai Tu, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorFunding information: Major Open Fund Projects from Foshan Xianhu Laboratory of the Advanced Energy Science and Technology Guangdong Laboratory, Grant/Award Number: XHD2020-003; National Natural Science Foundation of China, Grant/Award Numbers: 52076096, 52106269
Summary
Flow field configuration critically affects the heat and mass transfer process in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), which is a key factor to ensure efficient and stable operation of fuel cells. Side blockages arranged in the cathode flow channel is proposed for performance improving of PEMFC. Conventional straight, side blockage alternating with straight, side blockage flow channels are studied to analyze the effects of side blockages arrangement on the distribution of velocity, temperature, reactant concentration and water content and the performance of PEMFC. Results show that the O2 mole concentration in the flow field could be increased by the presence of side blockages, thus the convective mass transfer coefficient and performance are both improved. At current density of 2.0 A cm−2, the performance of PEMFC increases by 9.5%. In comparison to the straight flow channel, flow channels installing side blockage present about 1.5 K lower of the maximum temperature, more uniform temperature distribution and increased Nusselt number, indicating the enhancement of heat transfer. Based on field synergy theory, it’s found that the average angles describing the synergetic effect of heat transfer and mass transfer decrease with the installation of side blockages. This reveals the enhancement of the synergetic degree in heat and mass transfer processes under the turbulence of side blockages, which coincides with the improved performance of PEMFC.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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