Abstract
The gas transport in the porous electrode is treated by a phenomenological approach such that the gas concentration at the three-phase boundary (TPB) region is the additive superposition of that transported from the source, i.e. the gas channels. With plausible approximations and elemental algebra, analytical expressions are obtained to estimate the effects of ribs on the concentration polarization of planar fuel cell operations. It is shown that the model can closely reproduce the experimental concentration polarization curve for small and medium current density (up to about 2A/cm2), providing a simple and effective method for engineering application. The concentration polarization caused by the presence of a rib is discussed and the concentration profiles with varying rib widths are illustrated. In connection with the electrical resistance, the determination of the optimal rib width for minimizing the overall polarization is also shown.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 92-97 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Power Sources |
| Volume | 117 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 15 2003 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Funding
The work summarized in this paper was funded as part of the Solid-State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Core Technology Program by the US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). PNNL is operated by Battelle for the US Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC06-76RL01830.
Keywords
- Analytical model
- Concentration polarization
- Fuel cell
- Gas transport
- Rib design