Open AccessPerformance study of centrifugal air compressor for proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems
Author(s) -
Liu Yunxia,
Zhao Yuanyang,
Yang Qichao,
Liu Guangbin,
Li Liansheng,
Gao Zhicheng
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
energy science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.638
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 2050-0505
DOI - 10.1002/ese3.1023
Subject(s) - gas compressor , centrifugal compressor , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , computational fluid dynamics , axial compressor , air compressor , automotive engineering , power (physics) , flow (mathematics) , airflow , overall pressure ratio , engineering , mechanical engineering , fuel cells , mechanics , aerospace engineering , physics , thermodynamics , chemical engineering
Air supply systems are essential subsystems in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems. Compressors are the key devices of air supply systems that greatly influence the characteristics of fuel cells. The simulation and experimental researches on a small centrifugal compressor with high rotation speed have been presented in this paper. Firstly, the input parameters of a compressor are obtained based on the output power and operating pressure of PEM fuel cells. Then, a prototype of small centrifugal compressors applied in PEM fuel cells is designed, simulated with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, and tested in actual working conditions. Finally, the simulation results show that the internal flow in compressors affects the performance strongly. The discharge pressure of the simulation is close to the test data in the studied working conditions, and the maximum error is less than 6%.