Enhancing Water Management in PEMFCs Under Ultra-Low Gas Inlet Pressures
Key Ideas
  • PEMFCs face challenges with water management under ultra-low gas inlet pressures, affecting performance and stability.
  • Transparent fuel cells offer insights into water distribution and behavior within flow channels, aiding in performance enhancement.
  • Studies emphasize the impact of pressure, flow patterns, and surface properties on water transport and system efficiency.
  • Optimizing flow field design, surface wettability, and utilizing CFD techniques play a crucial role in improving water removal and cell performance.
The article delves into the challenges faced by Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) in effectively managing water under ultra-low gas inlet pressures critical for residential safety standards. Inadequate water transport can lead to issues like flooding and voltage fluctuations, compromising overall performance and system stability. Understanding water transportation within fuel cells, including various forces like gas drag force and gravity, is crucial for enhancing water management capability. Transparent fuel cells offer a unique visualization method to analyze water behavior across flow field layers with high resolution and cost-effectiveness. Studies by Zhao Jing and others have shown how gas flow direction and rate influence water behavior and system output voltage. Additionally, research suggests that reducing operating pressures may impact performance, especially under high current densities, emphasizing the need for further investigation. Optimizing flow field types, surface properties, and employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques are identified as key strategies to improve water removal and cell efficiency in PEMFCs.
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