TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of parallel channels orientation on two-phase flow and performance of a direct methanol fuel cell

AU - Jia, Jie Lin

AU - Guo, Hang

AU - Ye, Fang

AU - Ma, Chong Fang

AU - Kabov, Oleg A.

PY - 2018/1/1

Y1 - 2018/1/1

N2 - The effect of rotation angles on a direct methanol fuel cell’s performance and carbon dioxide behavior is experimentally studied. For this purpose, a transparent window was added to the anode plate of the cell. The anode plate, with 14 parallel rectangular channels, is used in the test. The cross-sectional area of the channels is 2 mm × 2 mm, the ribs are 2 mm in width, and the channel is 52 mm long. By rotating the cell clockwise and counterclockwise in the vertical plane, the cell performance is investigated and compared to that in the vertical direction (0◦). The experimental results show that when the cell is rotated the bubble size increases with the rotation angles and the bubbles slowly escape into the channels. The gas slugs move fast in the outlet manifold and the length becomes short when the cell is rotated in the clockwise direction. When the cell is rotated counterclockwise, gas columns appear at the exit side of the upper parts of the flow field. The amount of flow channels appearing in the gas columns increases with the rotation angles. In addition, the cell voltage is higher when the cell is rotated in the clockwise compared to the counterclockwise direction under the same rotation angle.

AB - The effect of rotation angles on a direct methanol fuel cell’s performance and carbon dioxide behavior is experimentally studied. For this purpose, a transparent window was added to the anode plate of the cell. The anode plate, with 14 parallel rectangular channels, is used in the test. The cross-sectional area of the channels is 2 mm × 2 mm, the ribs are 2 mm in width, and the channel is 52 mm long. By rotating the cell clockwise and counterclockwise in the vertical plane, the cell performance is investigated and compared to that in the vertical direction (0◦). The experimental results show that when the cell is rotated the bubble size increases with the rotation angles and the bubbles slowly escape into the channels. The gas slugs move fast in the outlet manifold and the length becomes short when the cell is rotated in the clockwise direction. When the cell is rotated counterclockwise, gas columns appear at the exit side of the upper parts of the flow field. The amount of flow channels appearing in the gas columns increases with the rotation angles. In addition, the cell voltage is higher when the cell is rotated in the clockwise compared to the counterclockwise direction under the same rotation angle.

KW - Direct methanol fuel cell

KW - Flow-field orientation

KW - Parallel channels

KW - Two-phase flow

KW - Visualization technology

KW - VISUALIZATION

KW - flow-field orientation

KW - DMFC

KW - FIELD

KW - GRAVITY

KW - two-phase flow

KW - TRANSPORT

KW - OPERATION

KW - DYNAMICS

KW - visualization technology

KW - ANODE

KW - parallel channels

KW - direct methanol fuel cell

KW - GEOMETRY

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068660579&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1615/InterfacPhenomHeatTransfer.2019028952

DO - 10.1615/InterfacPhenomHeatTransfer.2019028952

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85068660579

VL - 6

SP - 197

EP - 208

JO - Interfacial Phenomena and Heat Transfer

JF - Interfacial Phenomena and Heat Transfer

SN - 2169-2785

IS - 3

ER -