PEM燃料电池内液态水和温度分布特性

水和热的管理对PEM燃料电池的性能具有决定性的作用.本文建立了一个两相流模型,对PEM燃料电池换质子交换膜和阴极中的水分和温度进行了模拟,分析了燃料电池阴极中液态水和质子交换膜中水分,以及阴极催化剂层和质子交换膜中温度的分布状态.模拟结果显示:升高加湿温度,电池阴极中的液态水和质子交换膜中的含水量显著增加;沿着气体流动方向,燃料电池内的温度降低,水分含量升高;从质子交换膜阳极侧到阴极催化剂层中,温度先升高,达到最大值后,渐渐降低.     

PEM燃料电池中的两相传质及其影响

建立了一个新的二维、两相流模型来研究质子交换膜(PEM)燃料电池中的两相传质及其对质子膜阻抗和阴极性能的影响。模型不仅将催化剂层(CL)包含在电极中,还考虑了电池中相变及其对传质的影响。模型可同时使用在电池的阴极和阳极。主要模拟了电池阴极中两相传质、质子膜阻抗、阴极有效孔隙率和电流密度。模拟结果显示,提高加湿温度可以降低质子膜的阻抗,但过高的加湿温度会降低阴极气体扩散层(GDL)的有效孔隙率,降低阴极的性能。     

PEM燃料电池内水分布和温度分布的数值模拟

本文建立了一个两相流、非等温、三维模型来研究PEM燃料电池内的传递过程,讨论了其内部水分布和温度分布特性。模拟结果表明水分布和温度分布都不均匀。沿着流动方向阳极侧水浓度逐渐降低,而阴极侧水浓度却不断升高,导致阴极容易形成液态水;在垂直流动方向上,脊下水的浓度和液态水饱和度都高于流道下;不同放电电压下阴极GDL中液态水分布趋势不同。沿流动方向温度逐渐降低,反应气体不足时降低梯度更大;脊下膜电极中温度低于流道下;垂直膜电极方向上最高温度在阴极催化层,放电电压越低,温度梯度越大;相同放电电压下质子交换膜越厚,各处的温度越低,温度梯度也越小。     

基于水平衡的PEM燃料电池大电流运行优化控制

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)水管理是影响其性能的主要因素之一。本文针对大电流运行的PEM燃料电池,提出了一种基于MEA水平衡的温度控制方法。在一定的操作压力和过量系数下,得到了基于无净电拖的PEM电池水平衡温度,并通过三维模拟对无净电拖水平衡温度进行修正,获得了基于电池最优性能的操作温度;电池实际的操作温度控制,可以以无净电拖水平衡温度线为基础,加上一个修正量,使电池在性能良好区域运行。这种电池操作温度的控制算法简单,对电池的设计与操作优化具有参考意义。     

质子交换膜燃料电池动态特性仿真

建立了质子交换膜燃料电池数学模型,并进行了仿真实现,计算分析了质子交换膜燃料电池典型动态特性和温度对其工作状况的影响.结果表明PEMFC内气体传质速度是影响电压响应时间的决定因素,扩散层内液态水的积累需要较长的时间,数量级在102～103,温度升高会降低PEMFC的动态响应时间并提高电池的输出功率,温度超过80°C后会降低电池的输出性能.     

催化剂Pt作用下氧气和质子还原反应分析

氧气在质子交换膜(PEM)燃料电池阴极的还原反应特性对电池性能有重要影响。本文通过建立电催化剂Pt表面的氧吸附模型,及氢与氧在Pt表面进行的氧化还原反应模型,运用分子动力学方法模拟研究了氢原子与氧在Pt表面的反应机理,分析了温度对氧气还原反应特性的影响。研究发现,氢原子和氧原子在Pt表面初次吸附是整个氧气还原反应的控制步骤;随着温度升高,氧气还原反应的速度加快,但温度不影响氧气还原反应各个步骤中的产物结构。研究结果对加强理解PEM燃料电池反应机理,推动燃料电池的应用具有重要意义。     

质子交换膜燃料电池电流分布的动态响应

动态特性是理解质子交换膜燃料电池性能的重要参数之一.运用燃料电池测试系统、恒电流/恒电压多通道测试仪和燃料电池电流密度分布测试装置,试验测量了质子交换膜燃料电池在不同加湿温度、电池温度和压力下的电流分布动态响应和动态特性.研究发现:不同区域的局部电流达到新的平衡所需的时间不同;加湿温度变化时,不同区域的局部电流的变化趋...     

H_2SO_4掺杂对高温PBI膜燃料电池性能的影响

质子交换膜是质子交换膜(PEM)燃料电池的核心,对电池的性能起到了至关重要的作用。论文配制了以磷酸为基础并加入硫酸的掺杂剂,制备了掺杂的高温PBI膜,通过电镜照片对比了掺杂膜表面的差异,测试了高温PBI燃料电池的Ⅰ-V特性和交流阻抗特性,分析了高温PBI膜掺杂硫酸的含量和电池温度对其特性的影响。研究发现:在加热条件下掺杂硫酸酸化膜时,对膜的微观结构有一定程度上的破坏,高温PBI燃料电池的特性也随之降低。研究结果对高温PEM燃料电池的PBI膜的性能的深度探索,推动高温燃料电池的普及化应用具有重要意义。     

PEMFC尾气冷凝的自增湿运行

为增强质子交换膜的导电特性,在燃料电池,特别是大功率长时间运行的电堆中,需要有大量的加湿水。本文提出用冷凝器来冷却出口尾气,以收集大量的液态水并实现电池自增湿的方法。结果表明:尾气经冷凝降到一定温度分离出的液态水能有效满足反应气体的加湿要求,实现电堆的自增湿运行。     

质子交换膜燃料电池短时微重力性能实验研究

利用落塔开展了不同重力情况下质子交换膜燃料电池性能的实验研究.对常重力和微重力条件下质子交换膜燃料电池发电时其阴极蛇形流场内部的两相流动开展了可视化现场观测.对重力因素对质子交换膜燃料电池内部传质过程的影响进行了分析和讨论.实验结果表明:在常重力环境中,液态水堆积在竖置流道的底部,无法有效排出.聚集在流道内的液态水与反应气体在流道内形成气/液两相流动.在微重力环境中,液态水在气体推动力的作用下从流道的底部上升并沿流道向出口流动.聚集在流道内的液态水排除后,减小了反应气体(氧气)从流道向催化层的传递阻力,从而使质子交换膜燃料电池的性能得到提高.     

直流道PEMFC两相流数学模型

建立直流道质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)三维非等温两相流数学模型,基于质子交换膜与气体之间的水分传递特征,综合考虑电渗、浓度扩散及电化学反应作用的影响,发展了膜电极水分传递的非平衡扩散模型.并自主开发程序代码对电池内复杂的多物理场耦合传递过程进行数值模拟,研究PEMFC电极内气态水、液态水分布、质子膜含水量分布和水迁移特性等,分析单电池内部的温度分布特征,并获得电池极化性能曲线.     

Fuel quality and operational issues for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are susceptible to degradation due to the catalyst poisoning caused by CO present in the fuel above certain limits. Although the amount of CO in the fuel may be within the permissible limit, the fuel composition (% CO₂, CH₄, CO and H₂O) and the operating conditions of the cell (level of gas humidification, cell temperature and pressure) can be such that the equilibrium CO content inside the cell may exceed the permissible limit leading to a degradation of the fuel cell performance. In this study, 50 cm² active area PEM fuel cells were operated at 55–60 °C for periods up to 250 hours to study the effect of methane, carbon dioxide and water in the hydrogen fuel mix on the cell performance (stability of voltage and power output). Furthermore, the stability of fuel cells was also studied during operation of cells in a cyclic dead end / flow through configuration, both with and without the presence of carbon dioxide in the hydrogen stream. The presence of methane up to 10% in the hydrogen stream showed a negligible degradation in the cell performance. The presence of carbon dioxide in the hydrogen stream even at 1–2% level was found to degrade the cell performance. However, this degradation was found to disappear by bleeding only about 0.2% oxygen into the fuel stream.     

Effect of gas diffusion layer and membrane properties in an annular proton exchange membrane fuel cell

A complete three-dimensional and single phase computational dynamics model for annular proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is used to investigate the effect of changing gas diffusion layer and membrane properties on the performances, current density and gas concentration. The proposed model is a full cell model, which includes all the parts of the PEM fuel cell, flow channels, gas diffusion electrodes, catalyst layers and the membrane. Coupled transport and electrochemical kinetics equations are solved in a single domain; therefore no interfacial boundary condition is required at the internal boundaries between cell components. This computational fluid dynamics code is used as the direct problem solver, which is used to simulate the two-dimensional mass, momentum and species transport phenomena as well as the electron- and proton-transfer process taking place in a PEMFC that cannot be investigated experimentally. The results show that by increasing the thickness and decreasing the porosity of GDL the performance of the cell enhances that it is different with planner PEM fuel cell. Also the results show that by decreasing the thickness of the membrane the performance of the cell increases.     

Oxide anode materials for solid oxide fuel cells

A major advantage of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) over polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells is their tolerance for the type and purity of fuel. This fuel flexibility is due in large part to the high operating temperature of SOFCs, but also relies on the selection and development of appropriate materials — particularly for the anode where the fuel reaction occurs. This paper reviews the oxide materials being investigated as alternatives to the most commonly used nickel–YSZ cermet anodes for SOFCs. The majority of these oxides form the perovskite structure, which provides good flexibility in doping for control of the transport properties. However, oxides that form other crystal structures, such as the cubic fluorite structure, have also shown promise for use as SOFC anodes. In this paper, oxides are compared primarily in terms of their transport properties, but other properties relative to SOFC anode performance are also discussed.     

XPS investigation of the PTFE induced hydrophobic properties of electrodes for low temperature fuel cells

In electrodes of low temperature fuel cells like polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFC) or alkaline fuel cells (AFC) the reactants and the water must be transported. For this purpose the pore system in the electrodes needs a hydrophilic character for the transport of the water and a hydrophobic character for the transport of the gases. The degree of the hydrophobicity determines whether the pore system will be flooded by the reaction water. In the case of PEFC, this is also determined by the degree of the required humidification of the reaction gases. In AFC hydrophobicity determines the extension of the three-phase reaction zone. Caused by the strong influence of hydrophobicity on the transport processes, the electrochemical performance and the optimized operation conditions are also affected by hydrophobicity.Typically polytetrafluoro-ethylene (PTFE) is used to make the electrodes hydrophobic, because PTFE has a high chemical stability. Hydrophobicity depends on the concentration of PTFE on the electrode surface. The PTFE concentration, which is related to the hydrophobic character, can be determined by XPS. The changes in the PTFE content and structure of the electrode of a PEFC was investigated by cyclic voltammetry and XPS and correlated with the performance of the cell in long-term operation. With both methods an initial significant increase in free and electrochemically active surface platinum area is observed. This activation is associated with a degradation of the PTFE in the electrode which is responsible for the hydrophobic properties of the electrode. With further operation the performance of the cell decreases because the water management becomes more critical. Generally, it is shown that XPS can be used for the investigation of the hydrophobicity of electrodes prepared by various manufacturing techniques as well as of changes in their hydrophobicity induced by the electrochemical operation.     

Influence of methanol impurity in hydrogen on PEMFC performance

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells [PEMFC] have become highly attractive for stationary as well as mobile energy applications due to their good efficiency compact cell design and zero emissions. PEM fuel cells mainly consist of anode and cathode containing platinum/platinum alloy electrocatalysts and Nafion membrane as the electrolyte. They operate on hydrogen fuel, which is generally produced by reforming of hydrocarbons, alcohols such as methanol and may contain large amounts of impurities such as methanol, carbon dioxide, trace amounts of carbon monoxide, etc. The studies on the effect of methanol impurity in hydrogen on fuel cell performance and methods of mitigation of poisoning are very important for the commercialization of fuel cells and are described in a limited number of papers only. In this paper, we present the studies on the influence of methanol impurity in hydrogen for the PEM fuel cells. The effect of various parameters such as methanol concentration, cell voltage, current density, exposure time, reversibility, operating temperature, etc. on the cell performances was investigated using pure hydrogen. Various methods of methanol poisoning mitigation were also investigated.     

Proton transport through aqueous Nafion membrane

We introduce a new model for proton transport through a single proton-conducting channel of an aqueous Nafion membrane based on a mechanism in which protons move under electrostatic effect provided by the sulfonate ( SO₃ ^-groups of the Nafion side chains, the spin effect of active components, the hydrogen bonding effect with water molecules, and the screening effect of water media. This model can describe the proton transport within various levels of humidification ranging from the low humidity to the high humidity as a function of operating temperature. At low humidity, this model approaches to the so-called surface mechanism, while at high humidity, it approaches the well-known Grotthuss one. Proton motion is considered as the transfer from cluster to cluster under a potential energy. A proton-proton interaction is comprised in the calculation. Using Green function method, we obtained the proton current as a function of the Nafion membrane temperature. We found that the lower the temperature, the higher the proton current transfer through the Nafion membrane in low temperatures compared to the critical point 10K, which separates magnetic regime from non-magnetic regime. The increasing of proton current at very low temperatures is attributed to the spin effect. As the membrane temperature is higher than 40 ^° C , the decreasing of proton current is attributed to the loss of water uptake and the polymer contraction. The results of this study are qualitatively in good agreement with experiments. The expression for the critical temperature is also presented as a function of structural and tunable parameters, and interpreted by experimental data.