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Simulation study of proton exchange membrane fuel cell cross‐convection self‐humidifying flow channel
Author(s) -
Tong Guangyao,
Xu Xiaoming,
Yuan Qiuqi,
Yang Yi,
Tang Wei,
Sun Xudong
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.6059
Subject(s) - proton exchange membrane fuel cell , hydrogen , materials science , nuclear engineering , membrane , hydrogen fuel , fluent , waste management , chemistry , environmental engineering , chemical engineering , environmental science , engineering , computer simulation , simulation , biochemistry , organic chemistry
Summary The proton conducting membrane is the core component of the fuel cell. It needs water to maintain conductivity. Excessive water content inside the fuel cell will block the membrane surface and reduce the output power of the fuel cell. On the other hand, if the water content is too low, the internal resistance of the fuel cell will increase, which will reduce the performance and service life of the fuel cell. Considering the above problems, it is necessary to humidify the air and hydrogen gas before entering the fuel cell, but humidification is to prevent the membrane at the gas inlet from becoming dry. Although proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) generates enough water, most of the gas is not completely saturated. This paper designs a self‐humidifying channel to redistribute the distribution of humid gas between different channels, and used FLUENT to simulate the heat and mass transfer, electrical conduction in the fuel cell. The effect of the self‐humidifying flow channel location on the PEMFC water and heat distribution is analyzed and evaluated.