What Happens Inside a Fuel Cell? Developing an Experimental Functional Map of Fuel Cell Performance
Type
ArticleAuthors
Brett, Daniel J. L.Kucernak, Anthony R.
Aguiar, Patricia
Atkins, Stephen C.
Brandon, Nigel P.
Clague, Ralph
Cohen, Lesley F.
Hinds, Gareth
Kalyvas, Christos
Offer, Gregory J.
Ladewig, Bradley
Maher, Robert
Marquis, Andrew
Shearing, Paul
Vasileiadis, Nikos
Vesovic, Velisa
Date
2010-08-20Online Publication Date
2010-08-20Print Publication Date
2010-09-10Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/600193
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Fuel cell performance is determined by the complex interplay of mass transport, energy transfer and electrochemical processes. The convolution of these processes leads to spatial heterogeneity in the way that fuel cells perform, particularly due to reactant consumption, water management and the design of fluid-flow plates. It is therefore unlikely that any bulk measurement made on a fuel cell will accurately represent performance at all parts of the cell. The ability to make spatially resolved measurements in a fuel cell provides one of the most useful ways in which to monitor and optimise performance. This Minireview explores a range of in situ techniques being used to study fuel cells and describes the use of novel experimental techniques that the authors have used to develop an 'experimental functional map' of fuel cell performance. These techniques include the mapping of current density, electrochemical impedance, electrolyte conductivity, contact resistance and CO poisoning distribution within working PEFCs, as well as mapping the flow of reactant in gas channels using laser Doppler anemometry (LDA). For the high-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), temperature mapping, reference electrode placement and the use of Raman spectroscopy are described along with methods to map the microstructural features of electrodes. The combination of these techniques, applied across a range of fuel cell operating conditions, allows a unique picture of the internal workings of fuel cells to be obtained and have been used to validate both numerical and analytical models. © 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH& Co. KGaA, Weinheim.Citation
Brett DJL, Kucernak AR, Aguiar P, Atkins SC, Brandon NP, et al. (2010) What Happens Inside a Fuel Cell? Developing an Experimental Functional Map of Fuel Cell Performance. ChemPhysChem 11: 2714–2731. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cphc.201000487.Sponsors
The authors would like to acknowledge the EPSRC for funding the work on current mapping through grant: GR/M 73552 and through grant EP/G060991/1 along with the NPL for support of Dr. Kalyvas. The EPSRC Supergen Fuel Cell programme (Phase 1) is acknowledged for funding the thermal imaging research and Phase 2 for the electrode microstructure mapping work. We thank Johnson Matthey for supplying bespoke MEAs and to Intelligent Energy for their support of our current work. Dr. Ladewig acknowledges financial support from the British Council and Dr. wMaher for support from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) for supporting the Raman spectroscopy research. We acknowledge Mr. S. Turner for technical assistance in the design and construction of the current mapping fuel cell hardware and Mr. R. Rudkin for his unparalleled practical knowledge of SOFCs.Publisher
WileyJournal
ChemPhysChemPubMed ID
20730848ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/cphc.201000487
Scopus Count
Collections
Publications Acknowledging KAUST SupportRelated articles
- The influence of membrane electrode assembly water content on the performance of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell as investigated by 1H NMR microscopy.
- Authors: Feindel KW, Bergens SH, Wasylishen RE
- Issue date: 2007 Apr 21
- Advanced anodes for high-temperature fuel cells.
- Authors: Atkinson A, Barnett S, Gorte RJ, Irvine JT, McEvoy AJ, Mogensen M, Singhal SC, Vohs J
- Issue date: 2004 Jan
- In situ optical studies of solid-oxide fuel cells.
- Authors: Pomfret MB, Owrutsky JC, Walker RA
- Issue date: 2010
- A microfluidic fuel cell with flow-through porous electrodes.
- Authors: Kjeang E, Michel R, Harrington DA, Djilali N, Sinton D
- Issue date: 2008 Mar 26
- Probing and mapping electrode surfaces in solid oxide fuel cells.
- Authors: Blinn KS, Li X, Liu M, Bottomley LA, Liu M
- Issue date: 2012 Sep 20