Abstract
Fuel cells are the devices that convert chemical energy into electrical energy through an electrochemical reaction. Direct Methanol Fuel cell (DMFC) is a proton exchange membrane fuel cells in which methanol is used as fuel. Its high energy density makes it suitable for fuel cells. Even though carbon dioxide is produced, there is no production of sulfur or nitrogen oxides. The problems usually occurred while working with DMFC are methanol crossover, condensation of methanol, water management and carbon dioxide release. In that the uneven flow distribution, accumulation of carbon dioxide bubbles in the fuel cell are the major issues in DMFC. To prevent these issues, this work focuses on the theoretical and experimental studies on development of fuel cells with special importance to geometry of the manifold. This paper provides the optimal solution for preventing uneven flow distribution that is the usage of squoval shaped manifold which is the combination of both square and circle. Performance of DMFC with squoval shape manifold is evaluated experimentally and is compared with square shape manifold and rectangle shape manifold geometry design.
Highlights
Direct methanol fuel cells have been a promising source of power due to their low weight, volume and high-energy density
Performance of various manifold designs in Direct Methanol Fuel cell (DMFC) were studied with equal manifold flow area and flow rate
It is attributed that the effect of manifold is very significant on DMFC performance and squoval manifold design as given better performance compared to rectangle and circle manifold design
Summary
Direct methanol fuel cells have been a promising source of power due to their low weight, volume and high-energy density. They have the ability to produce energy content with instantaneous recharge. The flow of fuel and oxidizer in the fuel cell needs to be evenly distributed over the entire surface of the catalyst layer to achieve good performance along with efficient removal of products. Fluid flow manifold systems are used commonly in fuel cells. These systems include either a distribution manifold i.e., a single inlet and multiple outlets or a collection manifold i.e., multiple inlets and a single outlet. External manifolds are simple in operation and less costly compared to internal manifolds
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