Advanced Energy Technologies
Haleh Sadeghi; Iraj Mirzaei; Shahram Khalilaria; Sajad Rezazadeh; Mojtaba Rasouli Gareveran
Abstract
Among the renewable energy systems, fuel cells are of special significance about which more investigation is required. The principal goal of the present study is considering the effect of the geometry change on the fuel cell's performance. In this paper, a three-dimensional model of proton exchange membrane ...
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Among the renewable energy systems, fuel cells are of special significance about which more investigation is required. The principal goal of the present study is considering the effect of the geometry change on the fuel cell's performance. In this paper, a three-dimensional model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell has been numerically simulated with conventional cubic geometry. Afterwards, two brand-new cylindrical models have been proposed to compare and select the best model. The governing equations include mass, momentum, energy, species and electrical potential, which are discretized and solved using the method of computational fluid dynamics. The results obtained from numerical analyses were validated with those from experimental data, which showed acceptable agreement. For the above-mentioned models, changes in the species mass fraction, temperature, electric current density, and over-potential were analyzed in more detail. The results reveal that, in all three models, by decreasing the amount of cell voltage differences between the anode and the cathode, higher current density is produced, which leads to high input species consumption and, consequently, more water and heat generation. On the other hand, the four-channel cylindrical model is more efficient than the other two models and has shower pressure drop due to its shorter pathway. The results illustrated that, at V=0.6 )V(, the amount of the output current density in the four-channel model increased by approximately 18.4 %, compared to that in the other two models. Further, in this model, the material used in bipolar plates is less than that in the other models.
Somayeh Sarirchi; S. Rowshanzamir
Abstract
Nowadays, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising green energy conversion devices for portable and stationary applications. Traditionally, these devices were based onperfluoro-sulfonic acid electrolytes membranes, given the commercial name Nafion. Nafion is the mostused electrolyte ...
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Nowadays, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising green energy conversion devices for portable and stationary applications. Traditionally, these devices were based onperfluoro-sulfonic acid electrolytes membranes, given the commercial name Nafion. Nafion is the mostused electrolyte membrane till now; because of its high electrochemical properties such as high protonconductivity, good mechanical and chemical stability at fuel cell conditions, and .... However, its high cost, reducing the performance at temperature higher than 80℃, and low humidity are the majorproblems. Hydrocarbon polymers are encouraging alternative to Nafion, since they show the same oreven superior performance than Nafion at high temperature and low humidity by some modifications. Numerous researches confirmed that Sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) is a promising PEMbecause of its low-cost, low fuel cross over, and acceptable thermo-mechanical stabilities. However,suitable proton conductivity in SPEEKs is depending on the high degree of sulfonation (DS), whichcould deteriorate the mechanical properties of SPEEK membranes progressively at the high level. Toovercome this dilemma, various SPPEK-based hybrid/blend membranes are synthesized, and theeffects of the introduced fillers on their performance are investigated. The introduced inorganicparticles to the polymer membranes might be silica, zirconia, titania, heteropolyacids, carbonnanotubes, and.... Enhanced proton conductivity, water retention at high temperatures, and higherelectrochemical properties are mentioned as some advantages of incorporating inorganic material intothe polymer matrix. High thermo-mechanical resistance and electrochemical activities are supplied byinorganic moieties, while the organic parts supply plasticity and easier ductility at the low temperature.Indeed, SPEEK blends have a good potential to alter Nafion at the high temperature and/or relativelylow humidity. In this paper, the last advances in progress of SPEEK-based organic/inorganiccomposite membranes that perform truly under fuel cell conditions are discussed.
