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Research Paper

# Numerical Investigation of Water and Temperature Distributions for Open-Cathode Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Stack With Edge Cooling

[+] Author and Article Information
Agus P. Sasmito

e-mail: ap.sasmito@gmail.com

Tariq Shamim

Mechanical Engineering,
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology,
P.O. Box 54224,
Masdar City,
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Department of Chemical
and Biomolecular Engineering,
National University of Singapore,
5 Engineering Drive 2,
Singapore 117576, Singapore

Arun S. Mujumdar

Life Fellow ASME
Mechanical Engineering Department,
National University of Singapore,
9 Engineering Drive 1,
Singapore 117576, Singapore

1Corresponding author.

Contributed by the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF FUEL CELL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received May 5, 2013; final manuscript received July 7, 2013; published online September 13, 2013. Editor: Nigel M. Sammes.

J. Fuel Cell Sci. Technol 10(6), 061003 (Sep 13, 2013) (9 pages) Paper No: FC-13-1044; doi: 10.1115/1.4025054 History: Received May 05, 2013; Revised July 07, 2013

## Abstract

Portable and motive applications of open-cathode polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) require not only good stack performance but also a light and compact design. In this context, we explore how edge cooling with three different fin designs—one standard rectangular fin and two triangular fins that essentially halve the size of the fins—can improve the thermal and water envelopes inside the stack as well as stack performance while reducing the overall volume. The results suggest that all three edge-cooling designs give rise to lower and more uniform local temperature distributions as well as higher and more uniform hydration levels at the membrane in the stack compared to the conventional open-cathode PEFC without fins and design with additional air coolant plates. In addition, edge cooling design with one of the triangular fins yields the best performance (around 5% higher in term of power per unit catalyst area and power per unit weight as well as ∼10% higher in term of power per unit volume as compared to other designs). Overall, the triangular fin design shows potential to be used in, for example, automotive applications due to its high performance as well as lightweight and compact design.

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## References

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## Figures

Fig. 2

SCCs for the open-cathode fuel cell stack for the conventional design (▼), the design with additional air-coolant channels (▶), with rectangular edge cooling (▲), with triangular fin 1 (●), and with triangular fin 2 (▪); FCC for a fan power of 19.5 W (◀), and operating point (○)

Fig. 1

Computational domain for open-cathode PEMFC stack (a) conventional design; (b) with additional air coolant plates and with edge cooling by (c) rectangular fin; (d) triangle fin 1 and (e) triangle fin 2. Note that the details for the conventional open cathode stack and with additional air coolant plates can be found in an earlier paper [2]; the detailed description of the design with rectangular fin is available in previous work [4].

Fig. 3

Comparison of the average stack temperature (···) and polarization curves (–) for the conventional design (▼), the design with additional air-coolant channels (▶), the design with with rectangular-edge cooling (▲), with triangular fin 1 (●), and with triangular fin 2 (▪)

Fig. 4

Comparison of the standard deviations of the stack (a) current density and (b) temperature for the conventional design (▼), the design with additional air-coolant channels (▶), the design with rectangular edge cooling (▲), the design with triangular fin 1 (●), and design with triangular fin 2 (▪)

Fig. 5

Local temperature distribution at the cathode catalyst layer for (a) the conventional design, (b) the design with additional air-coolant channels, (c) rectangular fins, (d) triangular fin 1, and (e) triangular fin 2

Fig. 6

Local distribution of water content per sulfonic group (λ) at the middle of the membrane for (a) the conventional design, (b) the design with additional air-coolant channels, (c) rectangular fins, (d) triangular fin 1, and (e) triangular fin 2

Fig. 7

Local distribution of current density generated at the cathode catalyst layer for (a) conventional design, (b) design with additional air coolant channels, (c) rectangular fins, (d) triangular fin 1, and (e) with triangular fin 2

Fig. 8

Comparison of the performance of the stack in terms of (a) power per unit catalyst area; (b) power per unit weight; and (c) power per unit volume for the conventional design (▼), the design with additional air-coolant channels (▶), the design with rectangular edge cooling (▲), the design with triangular fin 1 (●), and the design with triangular fin 2 (▪)

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