Thermal management strategies for a 1 kWe stack of a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Reddy, E H and S, Jayanti (2012) Thermal management strategies for a 1 kWe stack of a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell. Applied Thermal Engineering, 48. pp. 465-475. ISSN 1359-4311

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Abstract

A proper thermal management strategy is needed to maintain uniform temperature distribution and derive optimal performance in high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC). In HT-PEMFCs, more than half of the chemical energy is converted into thermal energy during the electrochemical generation of electrical power. We investigate the viability of three heat removal strategies: (a) using cooling plates through which cathode air is passed in excess of stoichiometric requirement for the purpose of heat removal, (b) using forced convection partly in conjunction with cooling plates, and (c) using forced convection alone for heat removal. Calculations, partly done using computational fluid dynamics simulations, for a 1 kWe HT-PEMFC stack, which is suitable for scooter type of transport applications, show that a combination of excess stoichiometric factor and forced draft appears to provide the optimal strategy for thermal management of high temperature PEM fuel cells. With proper cooling strategy, the temperature variations within the cell may be reduced to about 20 K over most of the cell and to about 50 K in isolated spots.

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IITH Creators:
IITH CreatorsORCiD
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Thermal management; Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells; High temperature operation; Heat removal; Temperature mapping; Computational fluid dynamics
Subjects: Chemical Engineering > Biochemical Engineering
Divisions: Department of Chemical Engineering
Depositing User: Team Library
Date Deposited: 29 Dec 2014 09:40
Last Modified: 29 Dec 2014 09:40
URI: http://raiith.iith.ac.in/id/eprint/1267
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2012.04...
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