Fuel Cells
Amarnath Gundalabhagavan; Veeresh Babu Alur; Ganesh Babu Katam; Kshitij Bhosale
Abstract
Fuel cells have been identified as a promising technology to meet future electric power requirements. Out of various fuel cells, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) has been staged up as they can operate at low temperatures and also have high power density. In this article, the flow field design ...
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Fuel cells have been identified as a promising technology to meet future electric power requirements. Out of various fuel cells, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) has been staged up as they can operate at low temperatures and also have high power density. In this article, the flow field design of a Single Serpentine Flow Field (SSFF) has been modified to L-Serpentine Flow Field (LSFF) in order to reduce thermal and water management problems in PEMFC. A numerical study was conducted on 441 mm2 active area at 700C and 3 atm operating conditions, to evaluate various flow characteristics by comparing LSFF with SSFF, and it was observed that temperature and species flux distribution in LSFF enhanced significantly. The modification of the flow field yielded remarkable improvements in various aspects. These enhancements included a more uniform distribution of membrane water content, an impressive 8% increase in O2 consumption, a remarkable 22% improvement in product evacuation demonstrated by the H2O species profile, attributed to a 40% reduction in product travel distance. Additionally, a noteworthy 10% increase in power density was achieved. Despite a slight increase in pressure drop due to the additional bends and turns in the modified flow field, the impact on power density remained insignificant. These findings highlight the immense potential of the modified flow field to significantly enhance performance.
Fuel Cells
Amarnath Gundalabhagavan; Veeresh Babu Alur; Kshitij Bhosale
Abstract
Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are essential for the efficient operation of hydrogen-powered automobiles. To improve their performance, researchers have proposed tapered flow channels as a possible solution. However, determining the optimal value for the tapering has not been explored in ...
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Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are essential for the efficient operation of hydrogen-powered automobiles. To improve their performance, researchers have proposed tapered flow channels as a possible solution. However, determining the optimal value for the tapering has not been explored in depth. In this study, a numerical investigation was conducted to optimize the tapering of tapered serpentine channels in PEMFCs. The results show that while anode channel tapering has a negligible effect on performance, cathode channel tapering has a significant impact. The study found that a flow channel geometry with an inlet of 0.8 mm and an outlet of 0.2 mm, with a gradual decrease in cross-section, resulted in the maximum net output, with a 10.64% increase in net power output at 0.7 V. Additionally, the improved water management performance was observed. Based on these findings, tapering flow channels only on the cathode side could be utilized as an optimal design for achieving higher performance. Overall, this study is significant as it provides valuable insights into optimizing the performance of PEMFCs, which can enhance their efficiency and utilization in hydrogen-powered vehicles. It highlights the importance of investigating the effects of flow channel geometry on performance and can guide future research in this area to improve the efficiency of PEMFCs.
Biomass Energy Sources
Ganesh S Warkhade; Ganesh Babu Katam; Veeresh Babu Alur
Abstract
This paper analyses the VCR (variable compression ratio) engine's performance, combustion, and emission output responses. The experimental results were modelled using the Grey Taguchi method (GTM) for input parameters of compression ratio, load, and fuel blends. The objective is to find the optimal combination ...
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This paper analyses the VCR (variable compression ratio) engine's performance, combustion, and emission output responses. The experimental results were modelled using the Grey Taguchi method (GTM) for input parameters of compression ratio, load, and fuel blends. The objective is to find the optimal combination of input parameters in the minimum number of experiments for minimum emission, better performance, and combustion parameters. The Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array with GTM is used to get the optimum combination of input parameters. The Taguchi was used to analyze the S/N ratio of experimental data and the gray-based method for optimization of multi-objective to single-objective optimization by assigning the suitable weighting factor to each response. The S/N ratio analysis of grey relational grade (GRG) shows the fuel B10, CR 16, and load at 100% of the optimal input factor level. This optimal level is further confirmed by the TOPSIS method. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) for input to GRG shows the highest influencing factor is the load with a 52.82% contribution, followed by CR at 28.38%, and fuel at 10.52%. The confirmatory results show an improvement of 56.1%. The novelty of this experimentation was to study feasibility of existing engine for alternative fuel with slight modification. At above optimal conditions, this biodiesel can be used efficiently in an unmodified compression ignition engine.