Multi-Segment Foam Flow Field in Ambient Pressure Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Authors

  • Chih-Kai Cheng Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan
  • Ting-Chu Jao Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan
  • Pei-Hung Chi Department of Mechanical Engineering, Lee-Ming Institute of Technology, Taipei 243, Taiwan
  • Che-Jung Hsu Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan
  • Fang-Bor Weng Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan
  • Ay Su Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan
  • Tsao Heng Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yuan Ze University, Taoyuan 320, Taiwan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-6002.2013.02.02.9

Keywords:

Metal foam, fuel cell, flow field, low temperatures

Abstract

In order to produce low-cost flow field plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, we used nickel foam in this study rather than conventional flow field. Nickel foam has high electron conductivity, thermal conductivity, and mechanical strength. Electrochemical impedance spectrum analysis is carried out to evidence the use on flow field plates of nickel foam. From the impedance fitting results, the nickel foam cases showed the lower contact resistance than the serpentine. However, such plates have poor performance at low temperatures and ambient pressure. In order to overcome this, a multi-segment foam flow field is designed in this study. This increased the performance of the polarization curve by 70% from 162 to 275.5 mw cm-2 than the original nickel foam design. Also, the mass transfer resistance was reduced, and the Warburg impedance value of the operation voltage decreased by 0.4 V. The numerical analysis results demonstrate that increased segment numbers can increase the performance of the multi-segment foam flow field.

References

Miwa S, Revankar ST. Hydrodynamic Characterization of Nickel Metal Foam, Part 1: Single-Phase Permeability. Transport in Porous Media 2009; 80: 269. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9356-7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-009-9356-7

Kumar A, Reddy RG. Modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with metal foam in the flow-field of the bipolar/end plates. J Power Sour 2003; 114: 54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(02)00540-2 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(02)00540-2

Kumar A, Reddy RG. Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell with Metal Foam in the Gas Flow-Field of Bipolar/End Plates. J New Mater Electrochem Syst 2003; 6: 231.

Kumar A, Reddy RG. Materials and design development for bipolar/end plates in fuel cells. J Power Sour 2004; 129: 62. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2003.11.011 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2003.11.011

Kim J, Cunningham N. Development of porous carbon foam polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. J Power Sour 2010; 195: 2291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2009.10.053 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2009.10.053

Hontañón E, Escudero MJ, Bautista C, García-Ybarra PL, Daza L. Optimization of flow-field in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using computational fluid dynamics techniques. J Power Sour 2000; 86: 363. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-7753(99)00478-4

Kim J, Lee SM, Srinivasan S, Chamberlin CE. Modeling of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance with an Empirical Equation. J Electrochem Soc 1995; 142: 2670. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1149/1.2050072

Lobato J, Rodrigo MA, Linares JJ, Scott K. Effect of the catalytic ink preparation method on the performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. J Power Sour 2006; 157: 284. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.07.040 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.07.040

Chi PH, Weng FB, Su A, Chan SH. Numerical modeling of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with considering thermal and relative humidity effects on the cell performance. J Fuel Cell Sci Technol 2006; 3: 292. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/1.2211632 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2211632

Downloads

Published

2013-05-28

How to Cite

Cheng, C.-K., Jao, T.-C., Chi, P.-H., Hsu, C.-J., Weng, F.-B., Su, A., & Heng, T. (2013). Multi-Segment Foam Flow Field in Ambient Pressure Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell. Journal of Technology Innovations in Renewable Energy, 2(2), 165–172. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-6002.2013.02.02.9

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2013 Journal of Technology Innovations in Renewable Energy

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Policy for Journals/Articles with Open Access

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work

Policy for Journals / Manuscript with Paid Access

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  • Publisher retain copyright .

  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post links to their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work .
Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC