Faculty Publications
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/18736
Publications by NITK Faculty
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Numerical investigation on the improved reactant mass transport with depth-dependent flow fields in polymer electrolyte fuel cell under inhomogeneous gas diffusion layer compression(Elsevier Ltd, 2021) Padavu, P.; Koorata, P.K.; Bhat, S.D.In this work, a numerical model is developed to analyse the effects of depth-dependent reactant flow field geometry under inhomogeneous gas diffusion layer (GDL) compression on the mass transport process and performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The types of depth-dependent flow channels considered in this study are: converging channel (depth continuously decreasing) and diverging channel (depth continuously increasing), and the conventional flow field designs. The model is investigated for local and global inhomogeneity due to GDL compression. The localized inhomogeneity is introduced in the flow-field rib as well as channel regions. The results are compared for reactant concentration, water concentration, local current density, and the polarization curve for different flow channel combinations. It is observed that the availability of reactants is higher in case of converging channel design, which leads to an increase in cell performance at higher currents. However, this is subjected to GDL inhomogeneity in compression. We observe in this study that such inhomogeneity, instead of having a significant impact on cell performance, lead to minimal influence in terms of reduction in cell performance. This we observe is due to improved H2 availability at anode and reduced O2 distribution at cathode that ultimately impacts respective hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and reduction in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This study aims to investigate the cases for altered variation in cell performance due to change in depth-dependent flow fields. © 2021Item Thermomechanical stability and inelastic energy dissipation as durability criteria for fuel cell gas diffusion media with pre-assembly effects(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Koorata, P.K.; Bhat, S.D.In this article, pre-assembly hot-press pressure and thermal expansion effects in gas-diffusion layers (GDLs) are addressed to explore the practicalities of the constitutive model reported in the companion article. A facile technique is proposed to include deformation history dependent residual strain effects. The model is implemented in the numerical environment and compared with widely followed conventional models such as isotropic and orthotropic material models. With the normal and accelerated thermal expansion effects no significant variation in stresses or strains is reported with the compressible GDL model in contrast to the conventional incompressible form of the GDL model. The present work identifies the critical differences with advanced and extended variants of the model along with conventional GDL material models in terms of planar stress/strain distribution and the membrane response. Finally, the model is simulated for micro-cyclic stress loads of varying amplitudes that imitate the real working conditions of fuel cell. The inelastic energy dissipation in GDLs is predicted using the proposed model, which is utilized further to distinguish the safe (elastic) and unsafe (inelastic shakedown) operating limits. The inelastic collapse of GDLs is shown to be a active function of high amplitude micro-cyclic load with high initial clamping load. © 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC