Effects of Open Ratio of Flow Field Plates on a Micro PEM Fuel Cell Performance and Its Transient Thermal Behavior

• Main Authors: Kuan-ming Chu, 朱冠名
• Other Authors: Shou-Shing Hsieh
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/xfj227

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 機械與機電工程學系研究所 === 97 === In this study, copper metals were used to fabricate five different flow field plates with various open ratios using MEMS technology. Five samples were prepared for experiments with rib width varying as 150, 200, 300, 450, and 600 μm at a fixed channel width (300 μm). The open ratio of flow field plates was varied from 60.0% to 37.9%. Experiments with different operating parameters of anode/cathode pressure drop, cell operating temperature, and gas backpressure were conducted. Furthermore, a simple lumped capacitance model was used to predict the temperature evolution of the fuel cell system. Then, the optimum flow field design and cell operating parameters were finally found. Based on the aforementioned experiments an optimal open ratio ofunity was found like 49.2%. Further, an optimal open ratio in terms of the net power gain factor (= power gain/power consumption) of 38.7% can be obtained for the cases under study. Durability and reliability for copper bipolar plate were examined for long range tests (each run with at least 5 hours duration for consecutive two months). This strongly suggests that copper sheets can be considered as one of possible candidates for flow field material.