Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology

The Korean Electrochemical Society (한국전기화학회)
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Removal of Flooding in a PEM Fuel Cell at Cathode by Flexural Wave

  • Byun, Sun-Joon (Thermal-Hydraulic Design Team, KEPCO Nuclear Fuel) ;
  • Kwak, Dong-Kurl (Graduate School of Disaster Prevention, Kangwon National University)
  • Received : 2018.06.28
  • Accepted : 2018.10.03
  • Published : 2019.06.30
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Abstract

Energy is an essential driving force for modern society. In particular, electricity has become the standard source of power for almost every aspect of life. Electric power runs lights, televisions, cell phones, laptops, etc. However, it has become apparent that the current methods of producing this most valuable commodity combustion of fossil fuels are of limited supply and has become detrimental for the Earth's environment. It is also self-evident, given the fact that these resources are non-renewable, that these sources of energy will eventually run out. One of the most promising alternatives to the burning of fossil fuel in the production of electric power is the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The PEM fuel cell is environmentally friendly and achieves much higher efficiencies than a combustion engine. Water management is an important issue of PEM fuel cell operation. Water is the product of the electrochemical reactions inside fuel cell. If liquid water accumulation becomes excessive in a fuel cell, water columns will clog the gas flow channel. This condition is referred to as flooding. A number of researchers have examined the water removal methods in order to improve the performance. In this paper, a new water removal method that investigates the use of vibro-acoustic methods is presented. Piezo-actuators are devices to generate the flexural wave and are attached at end of a cathode bipolar plate. The "flexural wave" is used to impart energy to resting droplets and thus cause movement of the droplets in the direction of the traveling wave.

Keywords

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Fig. 1. Sketch of the droplet on a horizontal surface.

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Fig. 2. Droplet movement on a plate by exciting flexural waves.

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Fig. 3. Experimental apparatus of the fuel cell system.

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Fig. 4. Schematic of the unit-cell experiment setup.

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Fig. 5. Schematic of the unit-cell channel shape.

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Fig. 6. Appearance of the piezo-actuator.

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Fig. 7. Attached piezo-actuators at end of bipolar plate.

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Fig. 8. Cell performances with different frequencies.

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Fig. 9. Effect of flexural wave on cell performances with different RH. (a) 35%, (b) 50%, (c) 75%, and (d) 90%.

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Fig. 10. Voltage as a function of time of different RH. (a) RH 35%, CD 1.6, (b) RH 50%, CD 1.6, (c) RH 75%, CD 1.6, and (d) RH 90%, CD 1.6.

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Fig. 11. Effect of flexural wave on cell performances with RH 90% and 1.5 stoichiometry.

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Fig. 12. Voltage as a function of time of RH 90% and stoichiometry.

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Fig. 13. Voltage as a function of time of RH 90%, 1.5 stoichiometry and cathode inlet temperature 50℃.

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Fig. 14. Power as a function of time of RH 90%, 1.5 stoichiometry and cathode inlet temperature 50℃ .

Table 1. Specifications of the measurement devices

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Table 2. Experimental condition

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