Enhancement of air-flow management in Zn-air fuel cells by the optimization of air-flow parameters

Thangavel Sangeetha, Po-Tuan Chen, Wei-Mon Yan and K. David Huang

Energy, 2020, vol. 197, issue C

Abstract: An attempt to reveal the effects of air-flow factors on the discharge performance of zinc (Zn)-air fuel cell (ZAFC) was performed in this study. Oxygen in the air was the active material reacting with Zn during reduction and also was an effective cathode fuel. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of air-flow management in ZAFCs by the optimization of air-flow factors like air-flow velocity, pressure and humidity in the ZAFC to eventually improve the cell performance. ZAFC with a blower fan was observed to produce better results than that with a suction fan. In addition, the influence of humidity on ZAFC can also be related to the performance of the cell. The inlet air velocity of 2 m/s produced maximum OCV under 200 mA discharge current and 69% humidity. Pure oxygen was perceived to have augmented the fuel cell performance rather than atmospheric air. The optimum operating conditions and air-flow management of ZAFC were interpreted by using computational fluid dynamic simulation techniques. Without increasing the initial capital costs and cell size, this study identified a suitable setting of inlet–outlet pressure that would substantially improve ZAFC performance. Thus, this study will prominently guarantee the enhanced application of ZAFCs in the future.

Keywords: Zn-air fuel cells; Air-flow management; Computational fluid Dynamic simulation; Parameter optimization; Constant Current discharging; Remnant oxygen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:197:y:2020:i:c:s0360544220302887

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.117181

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