• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.646-652
• /
• 2022

The dead-end anode (DEA) system is a method that closes the anode outlet and supplies fuel by pressure. The DEA method could improve fuel usage and power efficiency through system simplification. However, flooding occurs due to water and nitrogen back diffusion from the cathode to the anode during the DEA operation. Flooding is a cause of decreased fuel cell performance and electrode degradation. Therefore, tthe structure and components of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) should be optimized to prevent anode flooding during DEA operation. In this study, the effect of a porous flow field with metal foam on fuel cell performance and fuel efficiency improvement was investigated in the DEA system. As a result, fuel cell performance and purge interval were improved by effective water management with a porous flow field at the cathode, and it was confirmed that cathode flow field structure affects water back-diffusion. On the other hand, the effect of the porous flow field at the anode on fuel cell performance was insignificant. Purge interval was affected by metal foam properties and shown stable performance with large cell size metal foam in the DEA system.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.476-483
• /
• 2012

Proper water management is crucial for the efficient operation of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Especially, for automotive applications, A novel water management that can avoid both membrane dry-out and flooding is a very important task to achieve good performance and efficiency of PEM fuel cells. The aim of this study is to investigate the liquid water behavior on the gas diffusion layer (GDL) surface and in the cathode flow channel of a PEM unit fuel cell under flooding conditions. For this purpose, a transparent unit fuel cell is devised and fabricated by modifying the conventional PEM fuel cell design. The results of water droplet behavior under flooding conditions are mainly presented. The water distributions in the cathode flow channels with cell operating voltage are also compared and analyzed. Through this work, it is expected that the data obtained from this fundamental study can be effectively used to establish the basic water management strategy in terms of water removal from the flow channels in a PEM fuel cell stack.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.625-632
• /
• 2012

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the cathode channel flooding effects at different stoichiometries in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells by using visualization techniques. The phenomena of liquid water formation and removal caused by current variations were also examined experimentally. Tests were conducted at cathode stoichiometries of 1.5 and 2.0, and the anode stoichiometry was fixed at 1.5. It is found that at an air-side stoichiometry of 2.0, liquid water begins to form and the flooding occurs faster than at an air-side stoichiometry of 1.5. Also, when the air-side stoichiometry of 1.5 is maintained, the dry-out phenomena is observed in the dry-out area 7.8 A following the field of flooding. Thus, a stoichiometry of 1.5 produced better performance in terms of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) durability and hydrogen ion conductivity than did a stoichiometry of 2.0, in which dry-out occurs beyond 8A.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.35-41
• /
• 2010

Water management is an important issue of PEM fuel cell operation. Water is the product of the electrochemical reactions inside fuel cell. If liquid water accumulation becomes excessive in a fuel cell, water columns will clog the gas flow channel. This condition is referred to as flooding. A number of researchers have examined the water removal methods in order to improve the performance. In this paper, a new water removal method that investigates the use of vibro-acoutic methods is presented. Piezo-actuators which are devices to generate the flexural wave are attached at the end of a cathode bipolar plate. Flexural wave is used to impart energy to resting droplets and thus cause movement of the droplets in the direction of the traveling wave.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2005.11a
• /
• pp.95.2-95.2
• /
• 2005

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.04a
• /
• pp.62-62
• /
• 2005

• 한국태양에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2011.11a
• /
• pp.270-273
• /
• 2011

Water management is important in proton exchange membrane fuel cell because the water balance has a significant impact on the overall fuel cell system performance. In fuel cell vehicle, the vehicle's power demand is dynamic; therefore, the dynamic water management system is required. This present study proposes a method to control the humidity of the input air in cathode side of the fuel cell vehicle. The simulation using several driving cycles shows the proposed air humidification control obtains a relatively good result. The liquid saturation level is seen constant at the target level although still there are small deviations at driving cycles which having averagely high power demands.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.225-230
• /
• 2006

This study investigates drying condition when a small fan is added to a operating the free-breathing proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with dry $H_2$ and Air. Polarization tests were conducted on PEMFCs at cell temperatures between 30 and $50^{\circ}C$ under dry operation. In the results, the cell performance strongly depended on the cell temperature and the cathode gas stoichiometric flow rates. The cell performance increases as cell temperature decreases from 50 to $30^{\circ}C$. In the domain where the stoichiometry of air is quite large, reduction of the concentration overpotential compensated the increased internal resistance due to drying. The maximum performance was obtained at the small air flow rate beyond which flooding occurs. This indicates that the fan should be operated in the stoichiometry domain with a well designed cell structure to avoid flooding.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2007.05b
• /
• pp.2250-2254
• /
• 2007

Comprehensive analytical models focusing on the anode water loss, the cathode flooding, water equilibrium, and water management strategy are developed for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Analytical solutions presented in this study are compared with two-dimensional computational results and shows a good agreement in predicting those critical characteristics of water. General features of water concentration profile as a function of membrane thickness and current density are presented to illustrate the net effect of the back-diffusion of water from the cathode to anode and the water production by the cathode catalytic reaction on water transport over a fuel cell domain. As one of practical applications, the required humidity level of feed streams for full saturation at the channel outlets are investigated as a function of the physical operating condition. These analytical models can provide good understanding on the characteristic water

• 한국전기화학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2001.06a
• /
• pp.179-184
• /
• 2001

The diffusion layer within MEA(membrane electrode assembly) has been evaluated important factor for improvement of cell performance in DMFC. The diffusion layer in MEA structure leads to the reduction of catalyst loss in active catalysts layer as well as prevention of water-flooding in cathode. Cell performance is directly affected by interior properties of diffusion layer materials. Acetylene Black and $RuO_2$ with large pore size and low porosity compared to Vulcan XC-72R gave better performance caused by vigorous methanol diffusion and water removal. And $RuO_2$ as diffusion layer materials showed different behavior in anode and cathode compartment, that is, diffusion layers in anode and cathode side make methanol diffusion and water removal facilitate, respectively.