3D Investigation of Tubular PEM Fuel Cell Performance Assuming Fluid- Solid- Heat Interaction
Authors
Abstract
According to the declining trend of fossil fuel resources and the need to use renewable energies, appropriate research should be conducted for technical and functional studies in this regard. Therefore, in this research, a tubular PEM fuel cell as a suitable energy source with three-dimensional geometry has been numerically simulated and investigated. For a comprehensive study, the equations of continuity, momentum, energy, stress-strain, and fluid-solid-heat interaction at steady state are defined, coupled together, and then solved by a finite element numerical code. Assuming the cell voltage changes from 0.95 to 0.4 volts, the passage of compressible fuel and air through the channels and porous media of the electrode and catalyst, and also about 6 degrees increase in the average cell temperature, causes approximately 35 nm displacement in different parts. These displacements, due to fluid-solid-heat interactions, cause thermal and mechanical stresses. The maximum stress is about 3500 kN/m2 in the electrolyte due to its displacement limit (average displacement 12.8 nm). Then the relation of voltage variation with current density, stress, fuel flow rate, displacement and fuel cell temperature was shown. Also the results showed that the assumption of fluid-solid-heat interaction reduces the fuel cell power density by about 3%. Finally, the effect of different parameters such as fuel and air channel radius, electronic and ionic conductivity were investigated. For example, at a voltage of 0.4 volt, 20 percent reduction in the radius of air or fuel channels, or 100 percent increase in the electron or ionic conductivity, increases the electrical current density by about 2.17, 0.05, 3.69, and 40 percent, respectively.
Keywords
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25. Al-Baghdadi, M. A. S. and Al-Janabi, H. A. S., “Effect of Operating Parameters on the Hygro–Thermal Stresses in Proton Exchange Membranes of Fuel Cells”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 32, No. 17, pp. 4510-4522, 2007.
26. Sayadian, S. and Ghassemi, M., “Thermal Analysis of a Micro-Scale Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”, Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, pp. 1-13, 2020.
27. Fahs, I., Ghassemi, M., and Fahs, A., “Numerical Study of Detecting Crack Initiation in a Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, Vol. 39, No. 6, p. e13443, 2020.
28. Ubong, E., Shi, Z. and Wang, X., “Three-Dimensional Modeling and Experimental Study of a High Temperature PBI-Based PEM Fuel Cell”, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 156, No. 10, p. B1276, 2009.
2. Wang, C. Y., “Fundamental Models for Fuel Cell Engineering”, Chemical Reviews, Vol. 104, No. 10, pp. 4727-4766, 2004.
3. Peighambardoust, S. J., Rowshanzamir, S. and Amjadi, M., “Review of the Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 35, No. 17, pp. 9349, 2010.
4. Dutta, S. S., “Numerical Prediction of Temperature Distribution in PEM Fuel Cells”, Numerical Heat Transfer: Part A: Applications, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 111-128, 2000.
5. Wang, L., Husar, A., Zhou, T. and Liu, H., “A Parametric Study of PEM Fuel Cell Performances”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1263-1272, 2003.
6. Grujicic, M., and Chittajallu, K., “Design and Optimization of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells”, Applied Surface Science, Vol. 227, No. 1-4, pp. 56-72, 2004.
7. Ju, H., Meng, H. and Wang, C. Y., “A Single-Phase, Non-Isothermal Model for PEM Fuel Cells”, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 48, No. 7, pp. 1303-1315, 2005.
8. Sedigh, M., Khaleghi, H. and Mirzaei, M., “Parametric Study Of Operation and Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell Using Numerical Method”, Iranian Journal of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 2008.
9. Al-Baghdadi, M. A. S., “Performance Comparison Between Planar and Tubular-Shaped Ambient Air-Breathing Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Using Three-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics Models”, Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Vol. 1, No. 2, p. 023105, 2009.
10. Henriques, T., César, B. and Branco, P. C., “Increasing the Efficiency of a Portable PEM Fuel Cell by Altering the Cathode Channel Geometry: A Numerical and Experimental Study”, Applied Energy, Vol. 87, No. 4, pp. 1400-1409, 2010.
11. Mohammadi-Ahmar, A., Osanloo, B., Solati, A. and Ghasemi, J., “Performance Improvement of the Circular Tubular PEMFC by Using Different Architectures and Number of Layers”, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 128, pp. 238-249, 2016.
12. Sezgin, B., Caglayan, D. G., Devrim, Y., Steenberg, T. and Eroglu, T., “Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis of High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells by Using Comsol Multiphysics”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 41, No. 23, pp. 10001-10009, 2016.
13. Jourdani, M., Mounir, H. and Marjani, A., “Three-Dimensional PEM Fuel Cells Modeling Using COMSOL Multiphysics”, The International Journal of Multiphysics, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 427-442, 2017.
14. Chinnasa, P., Khamsuk, P., Seechalee, S., and Swatsitang, E., “Simulation and Experimental Study of Bipolar Plate on the Performance PEM Fuel Cell”, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 901, No. 1, p. 012081: IOP Publishing, 2017.
15. Abdollahzadeh Jamalabadi, M. Y., “A 3D Simulation of Single-Channel High-Temperature Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performances”, Applied Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 17, p. 3633, 2019.
16. Zhang, C., Li, W., Hu, M., Cheng, X., He, K. and Mao, L., “A Comparative Study of Using Polarization Curve Models in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Degradation Analysis”, Energies, Vol. 13, No. 15, p. 3759, 2020.
17. Bermúdez Agudelo, M. S., Hampe, M., Reiber, T. and Abele, E., “Investigation of Porous Metal-Based 3D-Printed Anode GDLs for Tubular High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells”, Materials, Vol. 13, No. 9, p. 2096, 2020.
18. Pan, M., “Design and Modeling of PEM Fuel Cell Based on Different Flow Fields”, Energy, Vol. 207, p. 118331, 2020.
19. Ionescu, V., “Water and Hydrogen Transport Modelling Through the Membrane-Electrode Assembly of A PEM Fuel Cell”, Physica Scripta, Vol. 95, No. 3, p. 034006, 2020.
20. Al-Baghdadi, M. A. S., “Studying the Effect of Material Parameters on Cell Performance of Tubular-Shaped PEM Fuel Cell”, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 49, No. 11, pp. 2986-2996, 2008.
21. Souli, M. H. and Benson, D. J., Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian and Fluid-Structure Interaction: Numerical Simulation, John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
22. Raback, P., Ruokolainen, J., Lyly, M., and Järvinen, E., “Fluid-Structure Interaction Boundary Conditions by Artificial Compressibility”, ECCOMAS Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference, wales, UK, 2001.
23. Fahs, I. and Ghasemi, M., “A New Sensitivity Study of Thermal Stress Distribution for a Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”, Journal of Renewable Energy and Environment, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 18-26, 2018.
24. Al-Baghdadi, M. A. S., “A CFD Study of Hygro–Thermal Stresses Distribution in PEM Fuel Cell During Regular Cell Operation”, Renewable Energy, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 674-682, 2009.
25. Al-Baghdadi, M. A. S. and Al-Janabi, H. A. S., “Effect of Operating Parameters on the Hygro–Thermal Stresses in Proton Exchange Membranes of Fuel Cells”, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 32, No. 17, pp. 4510-4522, 2007.
26. Sayadian, S. and Ghassemi, M., “Thermal Analysis of a Micro-Scale Proton-Conducting Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”, Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, pp. 1-13, 2020.
27. Fahs, I., Ghassemi, M., and Fahs, A., “Numerical Study of Detecting Crack Initiation in a Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell”, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, Vol. 39, No. 6, p. e13443, 2020.
28. Ubong, E., Shi, Z. and Wang, X., “Three-Dimensional Modeling and Experimental Study of a High Temperature PBI-Based PEM Fuel Cell”, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 156, No. 10, p. B1276, 2009.
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