Experimental study of temperature distribution effect on proton exchange membrane fuel cell using multi-pass serpentine channels

Ponnaiyan, Dineshkumar; Chandran, Mathan; Kumaresan, Thanarajan; Ramasamy, Jegathishkumar; Palaniswamy, Karthikeyan; Sundaram, Senthilarasu

Abstract

The uniform temperature distribution is one of the key features to consider in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) to increase performance and minimize the local hot spot formation on the membrane for longer membrane life. This work experimentally investigates the performance and temperature distribution on a 70 cm2 PEMFC with 1, 3, and 6-pass serpentine flow channels. The experimental results revealed that the 3-pass serpentine configuration showed better performance with peak a power density of 0.279 W/cm2, and the corresponding values obtained in 1 and 6-pass configurations are 0.246 and 0.228 W/cm2, respectively. To establish the temperature distribution, 20 thermocouples were provided in cathode plate and the temperature at different locations is mapped. The maximum cell temperature in 3-pass serpentine is limited to 69.76 °C due to enhanced reactant distribution and temperature uniformity. However, in 1 and 6-pass serpentine, the higher cell temperature is reported due to low temperature uniformity compared to the 3-pass serpentine design.

Citation

Ponnaiyan, D., Chandran, M., Kumaresan, T., Ramasamy, J., Palaniswamy, K., & Sundaram, S. (2022). Experimental study of temperature distribution effect on proton exchange membrane fuel cell using multi-pass serpentine channels. Materials Letters, 320, Article 132361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2022.132361

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 26, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Apr 27, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-08
• Deposit Date: May 26, 2022
• Journal: Materials Letters
• Print ISSN: 0167-577X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 320
• Article Number: 132361
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matlet.2022.132361
• Keywords: Nanoparticles, Diffusion, Oxidation, Electrochemical reaction, Temperature distribution
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2870322