Gas diffusion layer design focusing on the structure of the contact face with catalyst layer against water flooding in polymer electrolyte fuel cell

2010 ◽  
Vol 195 (22) ◽  
pp. 7559-7567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yusuke Hiramitsu ◽  
Kenji Kobayashi ◽  
Michio Hori
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Diffusion Layer ◽  
Catalyst Layer ◽  
Gas Diffusion Layer ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell ◽  
Water Flooding

Numerical Study of Pressure Drop in the Separator Channel and Gas Diffusion Layer of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell and Deformation Effect of Porous Media

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Litan Kumar Saha ◽  
Eru Kurihara ◽  
Wanyuan Shi ◽  
Nobuyuki Oshima
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Pressure Drop ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte ◽  
Diffusion Layer ◽  
Catalyst Layer ◽  
Gas Diffusion Layer ◽  
Gas Diffusion ◽  
Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell ◽  
Gas Channel ◽  
Porosity And Permeability

The flow behavior in the separator channel and gas diffusion layer (GDL) of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) has been investigated by using a transient, isothermal and three-dimensional numerical model. Gas channel and gas diffusion layers are considered as the important parts of PEFC as they transport reactant gases to the catalyst layer and also byproduct from the catalyst layer. The deformation of GDL plays an important role on the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cell since the physical properties such as porosity and permeability of the GDL and the cross sectional area of the gas channel are affected by the structural deformation of GDL. In this present investigation, non-uniform deformations shape of GDL are taken into consideration and chosen as in the experimental data. Numerical simulations are performed for a wide range of porosity and permeability values. Further, the effects of these parameters on the pressure distribution are measured. It is revealed that the increase of porosity and permeability parameter caused the decrease of pressure drop (difference of pressure from inlet and outlet) but the decreasing rate is not uniform. It is also found that there is an effective range of porosity and permeability values for which these parameters have a very strong effect on the pressure drop. The results obtained by numerical simulation are also compared with the experimental as well as theoretical solution.

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