Accumulation of Inert Impurities in a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell System with Anode Recirculation and Periodic Purge: A Simple Analytical Model
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Model Development
- (a)
- All reactants and inert species inside the anode recirculation loop are assumed to be well mixed.
- (b)
- Temperatures and pressures across the recirculation plumbing are assumed to be constant.
- (c)
- The system is assumed to be operating at steady state with pure hydrogen flowing before time t = 0. The impure hydrogen stream is assumed to be introduced at time t = 0. The dynamics of the accumulation of impurities in the anode chamber is then followed at times > 0.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Linear Accumulation—No Significant Loss from the Anode Chamber
3.2. Exponential Accumulation—Diffusion through the Membrane
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Symbol | Meaning | Value | Unit |
---|---|---|---|
Anode volume | 564 | cm3 | |
Purge volume | 282 | cm3 | |
Concentration of species i in the anode chamber | Variable | mol/L | |
Concentration of species i in the cathode chamber | Variable | mol/L | |
Mole fraction of species i in the anode chamber | Variable | ||
Mole fraction of species i in the cathode chamber | Variable | ||
Permeability of species i | Variable | mol·cm−1·s−1.atm | |
Cell area | 25 | cm2 | |
Anode pressure | 1.2 | atm | |
Cathode pressure | 1 | atm | |
Normal pressure | 1 | atm | |
Membrane thickness | 0.0018 | cm | |
Flow rate | Variable | scc/s | |
Gas constant | 8.314 | Latm/mol | |
Time | Variable | s | |
Purge time | 0.2 | s | |
Current density | 0.6 | A/cm2 | |
Operating Temperature | 353 | K | |
Standard temperature | 298 | K |
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Gardner, C.L.; Sarma, P.J.; Kjeang, E. Accumulation of Inert Impurities in a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell System with Anode Recirculation and Periodic Purge: A Simple Analytical Model. Energies 2022, 15, 1968. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15061968
Gardner CL, Sarma PJ, Kjeang E. Accumulation of Inert Impurities in a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell System with Anode Recirculation and Periodic Purge: A Simple Analytical Model. Energies. 2022; 15(6):1968. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15061968
Chicago/Turabian StyleGardner, Christopher L., Paran J. Sarma, and Erik Kjeang. 2022. "Accumulation of Inert Impurities in a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell System with Anode Recirculation and Periodic Purge: A Simple Analytical Model" Energies 15, no. 6: 1968. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15061968