TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of flow-field pattern and flow configuration on the performance of a polymer-electrolyte-membrane water electrolyzer at high temperature
AU - Li, Hua
AU - Nakajima, Hironori
AU - Inada, Akiko
AU - Ito, Kohei
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Center of Innovation Program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST . Hua Li is sponsored by the China Scholarship Council .
Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Center of Innovation Program of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, JST. Hua Li is sponsored by the China Scholarship Council.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC
PY - 2018/5/3
Y1 - 2018/5/3
N2 - This study aimed to optimize the flow-field pattern and flow configuration of a polymer-electrolyte-membrane water electrolyzer, with a particular focus on high-temperature operation up to 120 °C. Three types of flow-field pattern (serpentine, parallel, and cascade) were tested in both the anode and cathode sides of a water electrolyzer cell, and the current-voltage characteristics and high-frequency resistance were measured to examine which overpotential components are impacted by the flow-field pattern. The experimental results revealed that the cathode flow-field pattern only affects the ohmic overpotential, while the anode flow-field pattern significantly affects the overpotential related to liquid water shortage at catalyst layer, and the flow configuration (counter- and co-flow) does not affect the electrolysis performance. Finally, under operating conditions of 120 °C and 0.3 MPa, we found that the optimized cell configuration consisted of cascade and serpentine flow-field patterns in the anode and cathode, respectively; this configuration produced the minimum electrolysis voltage of 1.69 V at 2 A/cm2.
AB - This study aimed to optimize the flow-field pattern and flow configuration of a polymer-electrolyte-membrane water electrolyzer, with a particular focus on high-temperature operation up to 120 °C. Three types of flow-field pattern (serpentine, parallel, and cascade) were tested in both the anode and cathode sides of a water electrolyzer cell, and the current-voltage characteristics and high-frequency resistance were measured to examine which overpotential components are impacted by the flow-field pattern. The experimental results revealed that the cathode flow-field pattern only affects the ohmic overpotential, while the anode flow-field pattern significantly affects the overpotential related to liquid water shortage at catalyst layer, and the flow configuration (counter- and co-flow) does not affect the electrolysis performance. Finally, under operating conditions of 120 °C and 0.3 MPa, we found that the optimized cell configuration consisted of cascade and serpentine flow-field patterns in the anode and cathode, respectively; this configuration produced the minimum electrolysis voltage of 1.69 V at 2 A/cm2.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.171
DO - 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.02.171
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85045096200
VL - 43
SP - 8600
EP - 8610
JO - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
JF - International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
SN - 0360-3199
IS - 18
ER -
