Volume 14: Low Carbon Cities and Urban Energy Systems: Part III

Study on the Influence of Segmented Fuel Cell on Internal Parameter Distribution Huicui Chen, Wanchao Shan, Hongyang Liao, Tong Zhang, Pucheng Pei

Abstract

The nonuniform reaction inside the fuel cell seriously affects the performance and durability of the fuel cell. Segmented cell is a method of measuring the internal electrochemical reaction. A segment method which is easy to process is to groove on the terminal of the electrode plate. In order to study the influence of the grooving method on the segmented fuel cell, three-dimension, five serpent channels, single-phase fuel cell models with and without grooves on the anode plate are established in this paper. Under steady state, the polarization curve of the cell and the current density distribution of the anode terminal are compared. Under dynamic state, how the current density of the nine segments of the segmented cell changes with the cathode stoichiometric ratio is studied. The final conclusion has important guiding significance for the judgment of the internal reaction uniformity of the segmented fuel cell by grooving method and provide a theoretical basis for judging whether a fuel cell is out of oxygen by segmented fuel cell.

Keywords PEMFC, Segmented Fuel Cell, Fluent, Grooves