• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2005.06a
• /
• pp.260-263
• /
• 2005

The effects of internal manifold designs the reactant feed-stream in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs) is studied to figure out mass flow-distribution patterns over an entire fuel cell stack domain. Reactants flows are modeled either laminar or turbulent depending on regions and the open channels in the bipolar plates are simulated by porous media where permeability should be pre-determined for computational analysis. In this work, numerical models for reactant feed-stream in the PEFC manifolds are classified into two major flow patterns: Z-shape and U-shape. Several types of manifold geometries are analyzed to find the optimal manifold configurations. The effect of heat generation in PEFC on the flow distribution is also investigated applying a simplified heat transfer model in the stack level (i.e. multi-cell electrochemical power-generation unit). This modeling technique is well suited for many large scale problems and this scheme can be used not only to account for the manifold flow pattern but also to obtain information on the optimal design and operation of a PEMC system.

• The KSFM Journal of Fluid Machinery
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.11-19
• /
• 2012

The main function of fuel cell manifold is to render reactants distribution as uniform as possible into a fuel cell stack. The purpose of this study is to numerically investigate the effects of stack manifold design on reactants distribution within a fuel cell stack. Four manifold designs with different manifold entrance shapes (expansion or diffuser) and different values of the extra width between the cell outer channel and manifold side wall are considered and applied to the fuel cell stack consisting of 50 cells. Since the fuel cell stack geometry involves several millions of grid points for numerical calculations, a parallel computing methodology is employed to substantially reduce the computational time and overcome the memory requirement. The numerical simulations are carried out and calculated results clearly demonstrate that both the manifold entrance shape and extra width have a substantial influence on manifold performance, controlling the degree of flow separation and entrance length for fully developed flow in the manifold channel. Finally, we suggest the optimum design of fuel cell manifold based on the simulation results.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
• /
• v.41 no.10 s.269
• /
• pp.777-782
• /
• 2004

In this research, $5\times5cm^2$ unit cells were fabricated via liquid condensation process and uniaxial pressing followed by the screen printing of electrolyte and cathode layer. The SOFC stack was assembled with unit cells, gasket-type sealant and metal interconnect. The stack was designed to have a single column with internal-manifold and cross-flow type gas-channels. The SOFC stack produced 15 W, which is $50\%$ of the maximum power being expected from the maximum power density of the unit cell. Controlling factors for the proper operation of the SOFC stack and other designing factors of stack manifold and gas channels were discussed.