Gengpo Ren

Experiment and numerical simulation on the performance of a kw-scale molten carbonate fuel cell stack

A high-temperature molten carbonate fuel cell stack was studied experimentally and computationally. Experimental data for fuel cell temperature was obtained when the stack was running under given operational conditions. A 3-D CFD numerical model was set up and used to simulate the central fuel cell in the stack. It includes the mass, momentum and energy conservation equations, the ideal gas law and an empirical equation for cell voltage. The model was used to simulate the transient behavior of the fuel cell under the same operational conditions as those of the experiment. Simulation results show that the transient temperature and current and power densities reach their maximal values at the channel outlet. A comparison of the modeling results and the experimental data shows the good agreement.

Simulation of Performance Influencing Factors of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Different Flow Modes

Abstract A three-dimensional, gas-liquid two-phase flow and transport coupled model has been developed and solved in the entire modeling domain simultaneously using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. The model was utilized to simulate the velocity and local current density distributions and various performance influencing operational and geometric parameters of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells with conventional and interdigitated flow fields. The simulations are presented and discussed with an emphasis on the physical insight and fundamental understanding. Accordingly, some methods bettering the performance are suggested. The comparison between the modeling result and experimental data shows a good agreement.