Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B (대한기계학회논문집B)

The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (대한기계학회)
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Effect of Main Operating Conditions on Cathode Flooding Characteristics in a PEM Unit Fuel Cell

고분자전해질형 단위 연료전지의 주요 작동 조건이 공기극 플러딩 현상에 미치는 영향

  • 민경덕 (서울대학교 기계항공공학부) ;
  • 김한상 (서울대학교 기계항공공학부)
  • Published : 2006.05.01
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Abstract

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) should be sufficiently hydrated with a careful consideration of heat and water management. Water management has been a critical operation issue for better understanding the operation and optimizing the performance of a PEM fuel cell. The flooding on cathode side resulting from excess water can limit the fuel cell performance. In this study, the visual cell was designed and fabricated fur the visualization of liquid water droplet dynamics related to cathode flooding in flow channels. The experiment was carried out to observe the formation, growth and removal of water droplets using CCD imaging system. Effects of operating conditions such as cell temperature, air flow rate and air relative humidity on cathode flooding characteristics were mainly investigated. Based on this study, we can get the basic insight into flooding phenomena and its two-phase flow nature. It is expected that data obtained can be effectively used fur the setup and validation of two-phase PEM fuel cell models considering cathode flooding.

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References

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  1. Experimental Study of Performance of PEMFC Operated in Dead-End Mode vol.34, pp.6, 2010, https://doi.org/10.3795/KSME-B.2010.34.6.643