Isolation of transport mechanisms in PEFCs using high resolution neutron imaging

Liquid water saturation profiles were determined using high resolution neutron radiography for commercially available fuel cell materials and hardware. Temperature, pressure, and relative humidity (concentration) gradients were imposed on the cell to determine individual influences on water content...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of hydrogen energy 2014-02, Vol.39 (7), p.3387-3396
Main Authors: LaManna, Jacob M., Chakraborty, Subhadeep, Gagliardo, Jeffrey J., Mench, Matthew M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alternative fuels. Production and utilization
Anodes
Applied sciences
Cathodes
Channels
Concentration gradient
Diffusion
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Fuels
Hydrogen
Land
Model validation
Moisture content
Neutron imaging
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Saturation
Water management
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Liquid water saturation profiles were determined using high resolution neutron radiography for commercially available fuel cell materials and hardware. Temperature, pressure, and relative humidity (concentration) gradients were imposed on the cell to determine individual influences on water content for each gradient. The asymmetric anode/cathode channel/land architecture used in this work results in significant water accumulation in the anode diffusion media with saturation values of up to ∼50%. Anode water content was found to change substantially with imposed pressure or concentration gradient, whereas the cathode saturation profile remained relatively consistent, indicating the channel/land ratio and thickness have a determinant role in diffusion media retention. The data generated in this work has been made publicly available through www.pemfcdata.org, and should be useful for computational modelers seeking validation data. •High resolution neutron radiography used to determine through-plane water content.•Test conditions chosen to push limitations of multi-phase models.•Online database provides rich validation data for multiphase models.•Flow field geometry significantly influences diffusion media saturation levels.•Anode was more sensitive to water content with asymmetric flow field.
ISSN:0360-3199
1879-3487
DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.12.021