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Mass transport enhancement in the DMFC using an externally applied oscillatory flow
Author(s) -
Schonewill Philip P.,
Leighton David T.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.11453
Subject(s) - anode , mass transfer , limiting current , direct methanol fuel cell , diffusion , péclet number , chemistry , current (fluid) , current density , diffusion layer , methanol , analytical chemistry (journal) , power density , limiting , porosity , thermodynamics , mechanics , cathode , flow (mathematics) , power (physics) , layer (electronics) , chromatography , electrode , electrochemistry , physics , mechanical engineering , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , engineering
The direct methanol fuel cell experiences performance decay at high current densities due to mass transfer limitations. The dominant mass transfer limiting mechanism at high methanol/water feed rates and low methanol feed concentrations has been attributed to the slow diffusion of methanol through the porous diffusion layer of the anode. In this study, fluid oscillations were induced in the feed to the anode of a DMFC and significant performance improvements were observed at high current densities. It was found that the improvement in measured limiting current densities over steady flow operation was as large as twofold and the peak power density increased by as much as 30%. A model is presented which predicts the experimental values of limiting current density as a function of the Peclet number in the porous diffusion layer of the DMFC anode. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2008