Comparative Analysis of Circular and Square End Plates for a Highly Pressurized Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Stack

End plates are located at both ends of a proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) stack. If the end plates are thin, clamping pressure is not uniform and the performance of PEMWE can deteriorate from leakage and high electrical contact resistance caused by the deformation of the thin end...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied sciences 2020-09, Vol.10 (18), p.6315
Main Authors: Jo, Minjeong, Cho, Hyun-Seok
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Boundary conditions
Comparative analysis
Contact resistance
Design
Electric contacts
Electrolysis
end plate
End plates
finite element analysis
Finite element method
Fuel cells
Membranes
Optimization
PEMWE
Pressure distribution
pressure uniformity
Simulation
Strain distribution
Stress concentration
Topology
Topology optimization
Weight reduction
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Summary:End plates are located at both ends of a proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) stack. If the end plates are thin, clamping pressure is not uniform and the performance of PEMWE can deteriorate from leakage and high electrical contact resistance caused by the deformation of the thin end plates. In this study, end plates were designed to reduce the weight while clamping the stack uniformly by finite element analysis (FEA). The weights of the circular and square end plates were reduced compared to conventional end plates by 22.9% and 23.3%, respectively. The stress and strain distribution of square and circular end plates are analyzed using topology optimization. This analysis can improve the performance of the PEMWE by using new end plate designs verified by dummy cell stack simulation to maintain uniform pressure.
ISSN:2076-3417
2076-3417
DOI:10.3390/app10186315