TY - JOUR

T1 - Experimentally Validated Design of an Anode Recirculation Blower for Polymer-Electrolyte-Membrane Fuel Cells Under Variable Fluid Composition

AU - Nachtigal, Philipp

AU - Kentschke, Thorge

AU - Seume, Joerg R.

N1 - Funding Information: This paper contains some of the results of the publicly funded project “REZEBT”, which has been supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, based on a resolution of the German Bundestag. The project is organized within the framework of the ZIM program. The authors want to thank GþL innotec for the cooperation in the REZEBT project and for the hard- ware of the anode recirculation blower provided for the acquisition of the experimental results presented in this paper.

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - This paper focuses on the design, construction, and the experimental testing of an anode recirculation blower (ARB) based on a turbocompressor for PEM-FCs. The blower presented consists of a high-speed centrifugal compressor, driven by a so-called media-gap motor. Additionally, it includes a droplet separator to eliminate liquid water from the anode loop. The aerodynamic design is based on one-dimensional-correlations and three-dimensional-numerical CFD simulations. Different gas compositions of hydrogen, nitrogen, and water vapor are considered in the design, depending on the operating points of a PEM-FC. The gas composition has a significant influence on the achievable pressure ratio at constant compressor speeds, depending mainly on the specific heat capacity of the gas. Performance maps for different gas compositions are calculated using CFD for the designed ARB. A prototype is built and tested. The results validate the CFD predictions and show that the operating range of a PEM fuel cell can be covered with the present blower. In addition, it could be shown that an enthalpy-based approach using common characteristic numbers of turbomachines, allows converting performance maps-acquired with different gas compositions-into one another. This allows the performance map prediction for different gas compositions based on existing performance maps. This approach is illustrated by numerical and experimental results.

AB - This paper focuses on the design, construction, and the experimental testing of an anode recirculation blower (ARB) based on a turbocompressor for PEM-FCs. The blower presented consists of a high-speed centrifugal compressor, driven by a so-called media-gap motor. Additionally, it includes a droplet separator to eliminate liquid water from the anode loop. The aerodynamic design is based on one-dimensional-correlations and three-dimensional-numerical CFD simulations. Different gas compositions of hydrogen, nitrogen, and water vapor are considered in the design, depending on the operating points of a PEM-FC. The gas composition has a significant influence on the achievable pressure ratio at constant compressor speeds, depending mainly on the specific heat capacity of the gas. Performance maps for different gas compositions are calculated using CFD for the designed ARB. A prototype is built and tested. The results validate the CFD predictions and show that the operating range of a PEM fuel cell can be covered with the present blower. In addition, it could be shown that an enthalpy-based approach using common characteristic numbers of turbomachines, allows converting performance maps-acquired with different gas compositions-into one another. This allows the performance map prediction for different gas compositions based on existing performance maps. This approach is illustrated by numerical and experimental results.

KW - droplet

KW - fuel cell applications

KW - hydrogen

KW - turbomachinery

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85144824164&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1115/1.4055667

DO - 10.1115/1.4055667

M3 - Article

VL - 144

JO - Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

JF - Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power

SN - 0742-4795

IS - 12

M1 - 121014

ER -