Design methodology for membrane-based plate-and-frame fuel cell humidifiers

Abstract

Currently, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells require some method of humidification to operate effectively. External gas-to-gas membrane-based humidifiers can provide an efficient method to recycle exhaust heat and product water from the fuel cell stack. This work describes a design methodology involving a series of design equations for plate-and-frame membrane humidifiers. Humidifiers of different flow channel geometries were created with a rapid prototyping technique. These humidifier units were tested at different operating conditions in an attempt to validate the design equations. The ratio between the residence time of gas in the humidifier over the diffusion time of water from the surface of the membrane into the channel can be used as a design parameter. This ratio was shown to offer a good starting point for humidifier design, and a target range between 2.0 and 4.0 was identified (with a nominal desired value of 3.0). A humidifier design procedure and suggestions are presented based on this parameter and the packaging requirements of the humidifier in a fuel cell system. This algorithm was validated by creating a further prototype humidifier.