An Optimization Study of an Evaporator in a Fuel Cell System Adopting Oxygen as a Fuel

This study aims to analyze the effect of an evaporator in a fuel cell system which uses oxygen as a fuel. The oxygen from a liquid storage tank flows to the evaporator in order to supply gaseous oxygen fuel to the fuel cell stack. The design of the evaporator has an effect on the temperature and mass flow rate of the gaseous oxygen being supplied to the stack, which results in a change in the performance of the fuel cell system. In order to evaluate the characteristics, several components such as an oxygen storage tank, evaporator, stack, etc. were modeled and the parameters of the evaporator simulated. Increasing the heat exchange area in an evaporator enhances the effect of heat transfer, but its cost and overheated supplying oxygen gas may have a negative effect on the performance of the system. It is important to evaluate the optimization of the evaporator in a fuel cell system to ensure the better performance of the system.