Development of high performance scaled up PEMFC using porous inserts incorporated serpentine flow field

Abstract

Fuel Cell is an electrochemical device that continually converts chemical energy of fuel into electric energy as long as fuel and oxidant are provided. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) among various types of fuel cells is of great research interest due its versatility and ability to operate at room temperature. In case of PEMFC, the fuel (hydrogen) is supplied at anode and either oxygen or air is supplied at cathode. Heat and water are produced as by-products apart from electricity due to oxidation at anode and reduction at cathode. The removal of the by-products needs to be optimised to avoid the problem of flooding and dehydration of membrane. Excess quantity of water in liquid phase would certainly lead to obstructing the pores in the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) and Catalyst Layer (CL) while inadequate quantity of water would lead to membrane dehydration, thus resulting in bad performance of the PEMFC. For this reason, the water management is among the essential issues influencing efficiency of PEMFC system. Different flow field layouts have been developed for efficient elimination of water from PEMFC flow channels. The water which is accumulated on the cathode side of the flow channel is removed by the reactants whereas the water accumulation in the interfacial of cathode flow field landing and GDL is really tough to eliminate. This gathered water obstructs the flow of catalyst from GDL to the catalyst layer, thus decreasing the performance of PEMFC. In this concern, a permeable landing might facilitate easy water removal in the cathode side and also substantially improve PEMFCs efficiency. There is a requirement for a new basic and cost-effective method of water elimination in the landing region of the cathode flow field. newline