Explorations of Improving Flow Uniformity in the Bipolar Plate of a PEM Electrolysis Cell Using Different Designs

Authors

Jian H. Nie, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Yitung Chen, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Jianfei Wu, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
K. M. Veepuri, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

8-10-2008

Publication Title

2008 Proceedings of the ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Conference

Publisher

ASME

Volume

1

First page number:

725

Last page number:

732

Abstract

Optimization of electrolysis cell for producing hydrogen is dependent of a set of complex physical and chemical processes occurring simultaneously. Similar to fuel cells, it has been demonstrated that these processes are strongly dependent on the fluid dynamics inside the fuel cell. Bipolar plates are important components of PEM electrolysis cells because they are the first stage of the flow distribution system. A non-uniform flow distribution across the bipolar plate surface area will probably lead to an unbalanced use of the precious catalyst, and an overall efficiency of the device lower than expected. In the present work various concepts were tested for the purpose of improving flow uniformity in the bipolar plate of a PEM electrolysis cell for hydrogen generation. Numerical results including pressure distributions and velocity profiles are reported. It is shown that the flow uniformity within the designed bipolar plate is greatly improved compared with the baseline bipolar plate for water electrolysis.

Keywords

Electrolytic cells; Electrolysis; Flow (Dynamics); Fluid dynamics; Hydrogen as fuel; Proton exchange membranes; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Disciplines

Energy Systems | Fluid Dynamics | Mechanical Engineering | Oil, Gas, and Energy

Language

English

Comments

Conference Held: Jacksonville, Florida, USA, August 10–14, 2008

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

Repository Citation

Nie, J. H., Chen, Y., Wu, J., Veepuri, K. M. (2008). Explorations of Improving Flow Uniformity in the Bipolar Plate of a PEM Electrolysis Cell Using Different Designs. 2008 Proceedings of the ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Conference, 1 725-732. ASME.