TY - JOUR

T1 - Interaction of cell flow directions and performance in PEM fuel cell systems following an anode based water management approach

AU - Grimm, Mirjam

AU - Hellmann, Mark

AU - Kemmer, Helerson

AU - Kabelac, Stephan

N1 - Funding Information: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

PY - 2023/10/1

Y1 - 2023/10/1

N2 - A good water management is very important for the operation of PEM fuel cell systems as the proton conductivity is dependent on the membrane water content. In contrast to state of the art approaches, this study focuses on an anode based water management approach of fuel cell systems with an anode recirculation loop. The aim of the anode based water management is to reach a high and homogeneously distributed anode humidity without condensation in all relevant operating conditions. A criterion is defined to evaluate the anode humidity distribution. A macroscopic discrete 2D+1D model was developed that can simulate humidity distributions and the cell voltage for various flow directions of the fluids and operating conditions. The model considers the system behavior including the anode recirculation loop. This study shows that flow directions that support an internal water circulation are beneficial for fuel cell systems without external humidification. Furthermore, the study shows a correlation between the anode humidity distribution at the membrane and the cell voltage. The higher the temperature is, the more important is a flow field that supports a high and homogeneously distributed anode humidity.

AB - A good water management is very important for the operation of PEM fuel cell systems as the proton conductivity is dependent on the membrane water content. In contrast to state of the art approaches, this study focuses on an anode based water management approach of fuel cell systems with an anode recirculation loop. The aim of the anode based water management is to reach a high and homogeneously distributed anode humidity without condensation in all relevant operating conditions. A criterion is defined to evaluate the anode humidity distribution. A macroscopic discrete 2D+1D model was developed that can simulate humidity distributions and the cell voltage for various flow directions of the fluids and operating conditions. The model considers the system behavior including the anode recirculation loop. This study shows that flow directions that support an internal water circulation are beneficial for fuel cell systems without external humidification. Furthermore, the study shows a correlation between the anode humidity distribution at the membrane and the cell voltage. The higher the temperature is, the more important is a flow field that supports a high and homogeneously distributed anode humidity.

KW - Anode based water management

KW - Flow directions

KW - Humidity distribution

KW - PEM fuel cell system

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163727002&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.233270

DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.233270

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85163727002

VL - 580

JO - Journal of power sources

JF - Journal of power sources

SN - 0378-7753

M1 - 233270

ER -