Fly_1-s2.0-S0360319919303659-main.pdf (3.03 MB)
X-ray tomography and modelling study on the mechanical behaviour and performance of metal foam flow-fields for polymer electrolyte fuel cells
journal contribution
posted on 2019-03-07, 09:26 authored by Ashley FlyAshley Fly, Q. Meyer, Michael Whiteley, F. Iacoviello, T. Neville, Paul Shearing, Daniel J.L. Brett, Chang Soo Kim, Rui ChenPorous metal foams have been used as alternative flow-fields in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), exhibiting improved performance compared to conventional
‘land and channel’ designs. In the current work, the mechanical behaviour of PEMFCs using
metal foam flow-fields is investigated across different length scales using a combination of
electrochemical testing, X-ray computed tomography (CT), compression tests, and finite
element analysis (FEA) numerical modelling.
Fuel cell peak power was seen to improve by 42% when foam compression was
increased from 20% to 70% due to a reduction in the interfacial contact resistance between the foam and GDL. X-ray CT scans at varying compression levels reveal high levels
of interaction between the metal foam and gas diffusion layer (GDL), with foam ligaments
penetrating over 50% of the GDL thickness under 25% cell compression. The interfacial
contact area between the foam and GDL were seen to be 10 times higher than between
the foam and a stainless-steel plate. Modelling results demonstrate highly uniform
contact pressure distribution across the cell due to plastic deformation of the foam. The
effect of stack over-tightening and operating conditions are investigated, demonstrating
only small changes in load distribution when paired with a suitable sealing gasket
material.
Funding
This work has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant number EP/M023508/1 ‘Innovative concepts from electrode to stack’ UK/South Korea project.
History
School
- Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department
- Aeronautical and Automotive Engineering
Published in
International Journal of Hydrogen EnergyVolume
44Issue
14Pages
7583 - 7595Citation
FLY, A. ... et al., 2019. X-ray tomography and modelling study on the mechanical behaviour and performance of metal foam flow-fields for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 44(14), pp. 7583-7595.Publisher
© The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC.Version
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/Acceptance date
2019-01-23Publication date
2019-02-19Notes
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by Elsevier under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ISSN
0360-3199Publisher version
Language
- en