Water build-up and evolution during the start-up of a PEMFC: Visualization by means of Neutron Imaging

A commercial 50 cm2 PEM fuel cell with serpentine flow fields was operated at 2.0 bar (a) and 60 °C with different relative humidity (RH) values for the inlet reactants (a matrix of 3 RH for anode and 3 RH for cathode). Between each test the cell was decompressed and liquid water was thus flushed ou...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Iranzo Paricio, José Alfredo, Salva, Antonio, Boillat, Pierre, Biesdorf, Johannes, Tapia, Elvira, Rosa Iglesias, Manuel Felipe
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2017
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/162694
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/162694
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.11.076
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Neutron Imaging
PEM fuel cell
Water transport
Liquid water
Water dynamics
Water slug
Descripción
Sumario:A commercial 50 cm2 PEM fuel cell with serpentine flow fields was operated at 2.0 bar (a) and 60 °C with different relative humidity (RH) values for the inlet reactants (a matrix of 3 RH for anode and 3 RH for cathode). Between each test the cell was decompressed and liquid water was thus flushed out. The liquid water build-up and the time evolution during each experiment were recorded by means of Neutron Imaging. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results is presented in this work. It was observed that the dynamics of water build-up comprises three main stages, where the major difference is the liquid water accumulation rate. The onset location for the water appearance in the flow field channels was found to be determined by the flow field design, gravity and gas flow direction along the serpentine path. The time evolution of the water progressive accumulation along the flow field channels and cell active area is discussed.