Study on the effect of gas channel arrangement on the performance of air-cooled fuel cells

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20220764

Abstract

Abstract:

Air-cooled fuel cells have great advantages in unmanned aerial vehicle application, but they still face problems such as low performance and complex water and heat management. In this study, effects of co-flow, counter-flow and cross-flow gas channel arrangements on the performance of air-cooled fuel cell are studied. The coupling mechanism between various physical quantities is also discussed. It is found that gas channel arrangements have a significant influence on the distribution of key physical quantities of air-cooled fuel cells. Affected by the uneven distribution of dissolved water content, the current density distribution in the cathode catalytic layer of cross-flow arrangement presents an isolated point distribution. Due to good thermal management of cross-flow gas channel arrangement, it can significantly improve the water content of membrane electrode, and then improve the cell performance. Under the operating voltage of 0.6 V, the current density of cross-flow gas channel arrangement is 20% higher than that of co-flow gas channel arrangement. In addition, it is also found that the reduction of ambient humidity will significantly reduce the performance of air-cooled fuel cells.

Key words: fuel cells, numerical simulation, transport processes, flow field design, water and thermal management

摘要：

风冷燃料电池在无人机上应用具有较大的优势，但其仍然面临着性能低、水热管理复杂等问题。采用数值模拟研究了阴阳极流道顺流、逆流以及交叉流布置方式对风冷燃料电池性能的影响，讨论了各物理量之间的耦合机制。研究发现阴极流道布置对风冷燃料电池关键物理量分布影响显著，受水含量分布不均影响，交叉流布置催化层中电流密度呈现孤立点状分布，相较于顺流流道布置与逆流流道布置，交叉流流道布置具有较好的热管理特性，能够显著提高膜电极中水含量，继而提升风冷燃料电池性能，在0.6 V操作电压下，交叉流流道布置电流密度相比较顺流流道设计提升了约20%，此外研究还发现，环境相对湿度的降低会显著降低风冷燃料电池性能。

关键词: 燃料电池, 数值模拟, 传递过程, 流场设计, 水热管理

CLC Number:

TK 121

Ming PENG, Qiangfeng XIA, Lixiang JIANG, Ruiyuan ZHANG, Lingyi GUO, Li CHEN, Wenquan TAO. Study on the effect of gas channel arrangement on the performance of air-cooled fuel cells[J]. CIESC Journal, 2022, 73(10): 4625-4637.

彭明, 夏强峰, 蒋理想, 张瑞元, 郭凌燚, 陈黎, 陶文铨. 流道布置对风冷燃料电池性能影响的研究[J]. 化工学报, 2022, 73(10): 4625-4637.

Figures/Tables 16

Table 1 Basic parameters in fuel cell model

变量描述	数值	文献
孔隙率ε	CLs/MPLs/GDLs: 0.4/0.4/0.78	[7]
渗透率K	CLs/MPLs/GDLs: 1×10^-13/7×10^-13/2×10^-12 m²	[7, 35]
接触角θ	CLs/MPLs/GDLs: 120°/150°/140°	[7]
电子电导率κ_ele	CLs/MPLs/GDLs/BPs: 750/750/750/20000 S·m^-1	[34]
热导率k_s	MEM/CLs/MPLs/GDLs/BPs: 0.95/1/0.83/1/20 W·m^-2·K^-1	[7, 35]
比热容c_p	MEM/CLs/MPLs/GDLs/BPs: 833/3300/800/568/1580 J·kg^-1·K^-1	[35]
扩散系数D	O₂/H₂/H₂O: 3.732×10^-5/5.717×10^-5/5.717×10^-5 m²·s^-1	[7]
表面张力σ	0.0625 N·m^-1	[31]
蒸汽凝结相变潜热h_con	2.308×10⁶ J·kg^-1	[7]
蒸汽水合潜热h_hy	3.462×10⁶ J·kg^-1	[34]
无量纲相变速率Sh_con/evap	2.04×10^-3	[34]
孔比表面积A_pore	2.0×10⁵ m^-1	[34]
孔径特征长度d	5.0×10^-6 m
相变速率系数γ_wd	1.0 s^-1	[34]
电解质体积分数ω	0.22	[34]
阳极交换电流密度 $j 0, a r e f$	$2.3 × 106 e x p - 1400 1 T - 1 353.15$ A·m^-3
阴极交换电流密度 $j 0, c r e f$	$60 e x p - E c R 1 T - 1 353.15$ A·m^-3
质子电导率κ_ion	$0.5139 λ - 0.326 e x p 1268 1303 - 1 T$	[36]

Table 1 Basic parameters in fuel cell model

变量描述	数值	文献
孔隙率ε	CLs/MPLs/GDLs: 0.4/0.4/0.78	[7]
渗透率K	CLs/MPLs/GDLs: 1×10^-13/7×10^-13/2×10^-12 m²	[7, 35]
接触角θ	CLs/MPLs/GDLs: 120°/150°/140°	[7]
电子电导率κ_ele	CLs/MPLs/GDLs/BPs: 750/750/750/20000 S·m^-1	[34]
热导率k_s	MEM/CLs/MPLs/GDLs/BPs: 0.95/1/0.83/1/20 W·m^-2·K^-1	[7, 35]
比热容c_p	MEM/CLs/MPLs/GDLs/BPs: 833/3300/800/568/1580 J·kg^-1·K^-1	[35]
扩散系数D	O₂/H₂/H₂O: 3.732×10^-5/5.717×10^-5/5.717×10^-5 m²·s^-1	[7]
表面张力σ	0.0625 N·m^-1	[31]
蒸汽凝结相变潜热h_con	2.308×10⁶ J·kg^-1	[7]
蒸汽水合潜热h_hy	3.462×10⁶ J·kg^-1	[34]
无量纲相变速率Sh_con/evap	2.04×10^-3	[34]
孔比表面积A_pore	2.0×10⁵ m^-1	[34]
孔径特征长度d	5.0×10^-6 m
相变速率系数γ_wd	1.0 s^-1	[34]
电解质体积分数ω	0.22	[34]
阳极交换电流密度 $j 0, a r e f$	$2.3 × 106 e x p - 1400 1 T - 1 353.15$ A·m^-3
阴极交换电流密度 $j 0, c r e f$	$60 e x p - E c R 1 T - 1 353.15$ A·m^-3
质子电导率κ_ion	$0.5139 λ - 0.326 e x p 1268 1303 - 1 T$	[36]

Fig.1 Schematic of gas channel configuration, computational domain and grid system

Table 2 Geometric dimensions of components in the computational domain

几何结构	数值/mm
阴极流道宽度	1.2
阴极流道深度	1.7
阳极流道宽度	1.2
阳极流道深度	0.3
扩散层厚度	0.25
微孔层厚度	0.03
催化层厚度	0.03
质子交换膜厚度	0.025
阴极肋宽度	0.5
阳极肋宽度	0.5
流道长度	50

Fig.2 Grid independence verification

Fig.3 Fuel cell model validation

Fig.4 Contour of oxygen concentration in the middle plane of the cathode catalytic layer

Fig.5 Oxygen concentration distribution under the rib and gas channel in the cathode catalytic layer along the flow direction

Fig.6 Contour of temperature in the middle plane of the cathode catalytic layer

Fig. 7 Temperature distribution under the rib and gas channel in cathode catalytic layer along the flow direction

Fig.8 Contour of dissolved water content in the middle plane of the cathode catalytic layer

Fig.9 Dissolved water content distribution under the rib and gas channel in cathode catalytic layer along the flow direction

Fig.10 Contour of current density in the middle plane of the cathode catalytic layer

Fig.11 Current density distribution under the rib and gas channel in the cathode catalytic layer along the flow direction

Fig.12 Comparison of current density (a) and average dissolved water content (b) of different designs

Fig.13 Effect of inlet relative humidity on current density

Fig.14 Distribution of relative humidity (a) and liquid water saturation (b) in through-plane cross section of cathode membrane electrode assembly; Liquid water saturation distribution in the middle plane of cathode catalytic layer (c)

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