Transparent PEM Fuel Cells for Direct Visualisation Experiments

This paper reviews some of the previous research works on direct visualisation inside PEM fuel cells via a transparent single cell for the water behaviour investigation. Several papers which have employed the method have been selected and summarised and a comparison between the design of the cell, materials, methods and visual results are presented. The important aspects, advantages of the method and a summary on the previous work are discussed. Some initial work on transparent PEM fuel cell design using a single serpentine flow-field pattern is described. The results show that the direct visualisation via transparent PEM fuel cells could be one potential technique for investigating the water behavior inside the channels and a very promising way forward to provide useful data for validation in PEM fuel cell modelling and simulation.

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Transparent PEM Fuel Cells for Direct Visualization Experiments

Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology ◽

10.1115/1.4001353 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 7 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

M. I. Rosli ◽

D. J. Borman ◽

D. B. Ingham ◽

M. S. Ismail ◽

L. Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Field Pattern ◽

Direct Visualization ◽

Serpentine Flow Field ◽

Water Behavior

This paper reviews some of the previous research works on direct visualization of water behavior inside proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells using a transparent single cell. Several papers which have employed the method have been selected and summarized, and a comparison between the design of the cell, materials, methods, and visual results are presented. The important aspects, advantages of the method, and a summary on the previous investigations are discussed. Some initial works on transparent PEM fuel cell design using a single serpentine flow-field pattern are described. The results show that the direct visualization via transparent PEM fuel cells could be one potential technique for investigating the water behavior inside the channels and a very promising way forward to provide useful data for validation in PEM fuel cell modeling and simulation.

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Analysis and Optimization of Transient Response of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology ◽

10.1115/1.4028972 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

A. Verma ◽

R. Pitchumani

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Polymer Electrolyte ◽

Transient Response ◽

Single Channel ◽

Rapid Change ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Operating Parameters ◽

Automotive Applications

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are well suited for automotive applications compared to other types of fuel cells owing to their faster transient response and low-temperature operation. Due to rapid change in loads during automotive applications, study of dynamic behavior is of paramount importance. This study focuses on elucidating the transient response of a PEM fuel cell for specified changes in operating parameters, namely, voltage, pressure, and stoichiometry at the cathode and the anode. Transient numerical simulations are carried out for a single-channel PEM fuel cell to illustrate the response of power as the operating parameters are subjected to specified changes. These parameters are also optimized with an objective to match the power requirements of an automotive drive cycle over a certain period of time.

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Artificial Neural Network Modeling of PEM Fuel Cells

Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology ◽

10.1115/1.2039951 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 226-233 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Shaoduan Ou ◽

Luke E. K. Achenie

Keyword(s):

Neural Network ◽

Artificial Neural Network ◽

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Back Propagation ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Optimal Operating ◽

Cell Systems ◽

Artificial Neural

Artificial neural network (ANN) approaches for modeling of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells have been investigated in this study. This type of data-driven approach is capable of inferring functional relationships among process variables (i.e., cell voltage, current density, feed concentration, airflow rate, etc.) in fuel cell systems. In our simulations, ANN models have shown to be accurate for modeling of fuel cell systems. Specifically, different approaches for ANN, including back-propagation feed-forward networks, and radial basis function networks, were considered. The back-propagation approach with the momentum term gave the best results. A study on the effect of Pt loading on the performance of a PEM fuel cell was conducted, and the simulated results show good agreement with the experimental data. Using the ANN model, an optimization model for determining optimal operating points of a PEM fuel cell has been developed. Results show the ability of the optimizer to capture the optimal operating point. The overall goal is to improve fuel cell system performance through numerical simulations and minimize the trial and error associated with laboratory experiments.

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Effects of hydrogen relative humidity on the performance of an air-breathing PEM fuel cell

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat &amp Fluid Flow ◽

10.1108/hff-11-2018-0674 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 2077-2097 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zhenxiao Chen ◽

Derek Ingham ◽

Mohammed Ismail ◽

Lin Ma ◽

Kevin J. Hughes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heat Transfer ◽

Heat Transfer Coefficient ◽

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Relative Humidity ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Air Breathing ◽

Content Type ◽

The Heat Transfer Coefficient

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of hydrogen humidity on the performance of air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Design/methodology/approach An efficient mathematical model for air-breathing PEM fuel cells has been built in MATLAB. The sensitivity of the fuel cell performance to the heat transfer coefficient is investigated first. The effect of hydrogen humidity is also studied. In addition, under different hydrogen humidities, the most appropriate thickness of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) is investigated. Findings The heat transfer coefficient dictates the performance limiting mode of the air-breathing PEM fuel cell, the modelled air-breathing fuel cell is limited by the dry-out of the membrane at high current densities. The performance of the fuel cell is mainly influenced by the hydrogen humidity. Besides, an optimal cathode GDL and relatively thinner anode GDL are favoured to achieve a good performance of the fuel cell. Practical implications The current study improves the understanding of the effect of the hydrogen humidity in air-breathing fuel cells and this new model can be used to investigate different component properties in real designs. Originality/value The hydrogen relative humidity and the GDL thickness can be controlled to improve the performance of air-breathing fuel cells.

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(Invited) From PEM Fuel Cell Design to Biological Fuel Cells: The Status of Systems Development for Biological Fuel Cells

ECS Transactions ◽

10.1149/06403.0881ecst ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

pp. 881-895

Author(s):

M. Rasmussen ◽

R. D. Milton ◽

D. P. Hickey ◽

R. C. Reid ◽

S. D. Minteer

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Systems Development ◽

Cell Design ◽

The Status ◽

Biological Fuel Cells

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Alloys that form conductive and passivating oxides for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates

Journal of Materials Research ◽

10.1557/jmr.2004.0216 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 19 (6) ◽

pp. 1723-1729 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Neil Aukland ◽

Abdellah Boudina ◽

David S. Eddy ◽

Joseph V. Mantese ◽

Margarita P. Thompson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Oxide Films ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Bipolar Plates ◽

Concentrated Solutions ◽

Exchange Membrane

During the operation of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, a high-resistance oxide is often formed on the cathode surface of base metal bipolar plates. Over time, this corrosion mechanism leads to a drop in fuel cell efficiency and potentially to complete failure. To address this problem, we have developed alloys capable of forming oxides that are both conductive and chemically stable under PEM fuel cell operating conditions. Five alloys of titanium with tantalum or niobium were investigated. The oxides were formed on the alloys by cyclic voltammetry in solutions mimicking the cathode- and anode-side environment of a PEM fuel cell. The oxides of all tested alloys had lower surface resistance than the oxide of pure titanium. We also investigated the chemical durability of Ti–Nb and Ti–Ta alloys in more concentrated solutions beyond those typically found in PEM fuel cells. The oxide films formed on Ti–Nb and Ti–Ta alloys remained conductive and chemically stable in these concentrated solutions. The stability of the oxide films was evaluated; Ti alloys having 3% Ta and Nb were identified as potential candidates for bipolar plate materials.

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Characterizing Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell for a CMET Balloon

ASME 2011 9th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology ◽

10.1115/fuelcell2011-54532 ◽

2011 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Denise A. McKahn ◽

Whitney McMackin

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Mass Density ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Cell Polarization ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Design System ◽

Power Densities

We present the design of a multi-cell, low temperature PEM fuel cell for controlled meteorological balloons. Critical system design parameters that distinguish this application are the lack of reactant humidification and cooling due to the low power production, high required power mass-density and relatively short flight durations. The cell is supplied with a pressure regulated and dead ended anode, and flow controlled cathode at variable air stoichiometry. The cell is not heated and allowed to operate with unregulated temperature. Our prototype cell was capable of achieving power densities of 43 mW/cm2/cell or 5.4 mW/g. The cell polarization performance of large format PEM fuel cell stacks is an order of magnitude greater than for miniature PEM fuel cells. These performance discrepancies are a result of cell design, system architecture, and reactant and thermal management, indicating that there are significant gains to be made in these domains. We then present design modifications intended to enable the miniature PEM fuel cell to achieve power densities of 13 mW/g, indicating that additional performance gains must be made with improvements in operating conditions targeting achievable power densities of standard PEM fuel cells.

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Experimental characterization of a PEM fuel cell for marine power generation

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/202233405002 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 334 ◽

pp. 05002

Author(s):

Andrea Pietra ◽

Marco Gianni ◽

Nicola Zuliani ◽

Stefano Malabotti ◽

Rodolfo Taccani

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Storage ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Storage System ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Energy Storage System ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Power Converter ◽

Plant Design

This study is focused on the possible application of hydrogen-fed PEM fuel cells on board ships. For this purpose, a test plant including a 100 kW generator suitable for marine application and a power converter including a supercapacitor-based energy storage system has been designed, built and experimentally characterised. The plant design integrates standard industrial components suitable for marine applications that include the technologies with the highest degree of maturity currently available on the market. Fuel Cell generator and power converter have been specifically designed by manufacturers to fit the specific plant needs. The experimental characterisation of the plant has been focused on the evaluation of the efficiency of the single components and of the overall system. Results shows a PEM fuel cell efficiency of 48% (when all auxiliaries are included) and an overall plant efficiency, including power conditioning, of about 45%. From load variation response tests, the fuel cell response time was maximum 2 seconds without supercapacitors and increased up to 20 seconds with supercapacitors connected, reducing the stress on the fuel cell generator. Experimental results confirm that PEM fuel cells, when supported by a suitably sized energy storage system, represent a viable technical solution for zero-emission power generation on board ships.

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Development of an Optical Sensor for Temperature Measurement and Water Droplet Detection in PEMFC Gas Channels

ASME 2011 9th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology ◽

10.1115/fuelcell2011-54045 ◽

2011 ◽

Author(s):

Kristopher Inman ◽

Xia Wang ◽

Brian Sangerozan

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Temperature Measurement ◽

Water Droplet ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Pem Fuel Cell ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Droplet Movement ◽

Temperature Measurement System

Thermal and water management in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells provide a significant challenge for engineers and fuel cell designers as both have a direct effect on performance and durability. Internal temperature is very difficult to measure due to component geometry and the internal environment possessed by PEM fuel cells along with a lack of sufficient temperature measurement methods which are often highly invasive. This research presents initial developments for creating a non-intrusive temperature measurement system, based on the principles of phosphor thermometry, which also has the ability to optically detect liquid water formation and movement in PEMFC gas channels. The sensor was designed, calibrated and then installed in a 25 cm2 PEM fuel cell for in-situ testing. The experimental data show that a relationship exists between temperature variation and water droplet movement in gas channels of a PEM fuel cell.

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