Mid-baffle interdigitated flow fields for proton exchange membrane fuel cells
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Author list: Thitakamol V., Therdthianwong A., Therdthianwong S.
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2011
Journal: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (0360-3199)
Volume number: 36
Issue number: 5
Start page: 3614
End page: 3622
Number of pages: 9
ISSN: 0360-3199
Languages: English-Great Britain (EN-GB)
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Abstract
A new design of an interdigitated flow field, called as a mid-baffle interdigitated flow field, was built and tested for its effect on the performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The results were compared to the conventional interdigitated flow field. Their performances at different oxidant gas flow rates and operating pressures were also examined and compared by using both O2 and air as the cathode fuel reactants. The experimental results showed that when air was used as the cathode reactant, the cell with the mid-baffle interdigitated flow field outperformed the conventional one, giving a power output approximately 1.2-1.3 times higher depending on the air flow rates. The polarization curves of the mid-baffle interdigitated flow field showed larger limiting current densities at every air flow rate tested in this work. However, the performances of both flow fields were almost the same when the cathode reactant gas was O2. The test also demonstrated that the flow field performance could be enhanced by increasing the oxidant gas flow rate and cell operating pressure. ฉ 2010, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Bipolar plate design, Interdigitated flow field, Limiting current density, Mid-baffle interdigitated flow field, PEM fuel cells
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