Journal of Thermal Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 2, Special Issue 7, pp. 1867-1878, February, 2018
Yildiz Technical University Press, Istanbul, Turkey
This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Regional Editor Rashmi Walvekar
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Taylor’s University, MALAYSIA
2Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Complex, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, MALAYSIA
*E-mail address: [email protected]
Manuscript Received 10 November 2017, Accepted 15 July 2018
Flow Analysis of Dual Inlet PEM Fuel Cell Designs
Mohd Hardie Hidayat Mohyi1, *, Fahim Anua2, Wan Ahmad Najmi Mohamed2
ABSTRACT
Fuel cells are a promising alternative, clean energy conversion technology. One of the notable types of fuel cell, the Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) promotes the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity. It is known that the pressure drop in a PEMFC system has a significant effect on the system performance. Flow design of the PEMFC is also very crucial in determining the fuel cell efficiency. Thus, multiple inlets of PEMFC and several flow field configurations were introduced to tackle problems concerning pressure drop and flow distribution. Design configurations include a single-inlet-parallel-flow, 2-inlet-parallel flow, 2-inlet- parallel flow with middle channel and 2-inlet-parallel flow with middle separation to study the effect of multiple inlets PEMFC towards the pressure drop and pressure distribution throughout the flow channels. All flow fields are approximately equal in effective area. This research focused on the simulation of PEMFC using CFD analysis of non-reacting flows with different design considerations for both anode and cathode sides. 3D CAD Design CATIA was used to illustrate the flow fields reviewed in this research. Cathode side flow channel is symmetry in shape configuration as its corresponding anode side but has increased in channel depth. Engineering simulation software, ANSYS, was used to demonstrate the simulation on the effects of multiple inlet of fuel cell on the performance of the PEMFC with representing the pressure and velocity profiles. Non-reacting flow model was simulated for anode (hydrogen) and cathode (oxygen) regions to achieve the optimal distribution of pressure and velocity for each flow configuration.
Keywords: Computational Fluid Dynamic, Fluent, Bipolar Plates, Flow Field Design, PEM fuel cell.
INTRODUCTION
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) promotes the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to produce electrical energy [1]. On the anode side, hydrogen is transported to the surface of a platinum- based catalyst and is catalytically split into protons and electrons. The newly formed protons penetrate through the cathode side to react with oxygen to produce water molecules. The electrons, however, travel along an outside load circuit to produce electrical energy.
Oxidation process (at anode):
→ 2+ 2 (1) Reduction process (at cathode):
+ 4 + 4→ 2 (2) Overall equation:
2 + → 2 + + (3)
