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Behavior of a unit proton exchange membrane fuel cell in a stack under fuel starvation

► The effect of manifold on the single cell suffered from fuel starvation in a stack is studied. ► The actual hydrogen stoichiometry is almost 1 even though the fed hydrogen is not sufficient due to the “vacuum effect”. ► The position where localized fuel starvation occurs firstly gets closer to the a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of power sources 2011-07, Vol.196 (13), p.5595-5598
Main Authors: Liang, Dong, Dou, Meiling, Hou, Ming, Shen, Qiang, Shao, Zhigang, Yi, Baolian
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:► The effect of manifold on the single cell suffered from fuel starvation in a stack is studied. ► The actual hydrogen stoichiometry is almost 1 even though the fed hydrogen is not sufficient due to the “vacuum effect”. ► The position where localized fuel starvation occurs firstly gets closer to the anode inlet (not always outlet) with the decrease of hydrogen stoichiometry. Durability is an important issue in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) currently. Fuel starvation could be one of the reasons for PEMFC degradation. In this research, the fuel starvation conditions of a unit cell in a stack are simulated experimentally. Cell voltage, current distribution and localized interfacial potentials are detected in situ to explore their behaviors under different hydrogen stoichiometries. Results show that the localized fuel starvation occurs in different sections at anode under different hydrogen stoichiometries when the given hydrogen is inadequate. This could be attributed to the “vacuum effect” that withdraws fuel from the manifold into anode. Behaviors of current distribution show that the current will redistribute and the position of the lowest current shifts close to the anode inlet with decreasing hydrogen stoichiometry, which indicates that the position of the localized fuel starvation would move towards the inlet of the cell. It is useful to understand the real position of the degradation of MEA.
ISSN:0378-7753
1873-2755
DOI:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.02.064