A Novel Ejector with Water-Separator Function for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System Based on a Transient 3D Model
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 3
Abstract
The design and optimization of the hydrogen circulation system can improve the hydrogen utilization rate and overall system efficiency of the fuel cell system. The ejector and water separator are important parts of the design for the ejector-driven hydrogen circulation system. In this study, a novel ejector with water separation functionality is proposed based on a three-dimensional fluid transient simulation, which integrates the ejection and water separation functions in the traditional anode hydrogen circulation system. The separation efficiency of the novel ejector reaches 70.07% and 72.59% under low and high power, respectively, and the deviation is only about 3.47%. In addition, the entrainment ratios of 30 kW, 40 kW, and 50 kW have been improved by 12.54%, 8.04%, and 9.53%, respectively, through further optimization of the new ejector. The new ejector greatly simplifies the system structure while maintaining the original performance, which is innovative and beneficial to improving the power and energy density of the system.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research work is jointly funded by the National Key Research and Development Program (No. 2021YFB2500505) and the Distinguished Young Scholar Foundation of Hunan Province (No. 2022JJ10009). The authors are grateful to the reviewers and editors for their careful review of the manuscript and for the many constructive comments and suggestions for improvement.
References
Barzegari, M.-M., M. Dardel, E. Alizadeh, and A. Ramiar. 2016. “Dynamic modeling and validation studies of dead-end cascade H-2/O-2 PEM fuel cell stack with integrated humidifier and separator.” Appl. Energy 177 (Sep): 298–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.05.132.
Besagni, G. 2019. “Ejectors on the cutting edge: The past, the present and the perspective.” Energy 170 (Mar): 998–1003. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.214.
Cai, S., X. Li, S. Li, X. Luo, and Z. Tu. 2022. “Flexible load regulation method for a residential energy supply system based on proton exchange membrane fuel cell.” Energy Convers. Manage. 258 (Apr): 115527. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2022.115527.
Chen, H., X. Zhao, T. Zhang, and P. Pei. 2019. “The reactant starvation of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells for vehicular applications: A review.” Energy Convers. Manage. 182 (6): 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2018.12.049.
Deng, K., Y. Liu, D. Hai, H. Peng, L. Löwenstein, S. Pischinger, and K. Hameyer. 2022. “Deep reinforcement learning based energy management strategy of fuel cell hybrid railway vehicles considering fuel cell aging.” Energy Convers. Manage. 251 (Jan): 115030. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2021.115030.
Dong, K., G. Liu, Q. Yang, Y. Zhao, L. Li, and Z. Gao. 2021. “Flow field analysis and performance study of claw hydrogen circulating pump in fuel cell system.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 46 (69): 34438–34448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.08.014.
Feng, J., Q. Zhang, T. Hou, and X. Peng. 2020. “Dynamics characteristics analysis of the oil-free scroll hydrogen recirculating pump based on multibody dynamics simulation.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 46 (7): 5699–5713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.11.065.
Feng, R., X. Hu, G. Li, Z. Sun, and B. Deng. 2022. “A comparative investigation between particle oxidation catalyst (POC) and diesel particulate filter (DPF) coupling aftertreatment system on emission reduction of a non-road diesel engine.” Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 238 (14): 113576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113576.
Gu, P., L. Xing, Y. Wang, J. Feng, and X. Peng. 2020. “A multi-objective parametric study of the claw hydrogen pump for fuel cell vehicles using Taguchi method and ANN.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 46 (9): 6680–6692. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.11.186.
Han, J., J. Feng, and X. Peng. 2022. “Phase change characteristics and their effect on the performance of hydrogen recirculation ejectors for PEMFC systems.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 47 (2): 1144–1156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.10.049.
Huang, Z., G. Cai, W. Liu, and Z. Liu. 2021. “Performance optimization and water management of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with Two-Direction graded porosity design of cathode gas diffusion layer.” J. Energy Eng. 147 (2): 04021002. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000748.
Kim, S.-E., D. Choudhury, and B. Patel. 1999. Computations of complex turbulent flows using the commercial code fluent. Berlin: Springer.
Kuo, J., W. Jiang, C. Li, and T. Hsu. 2020. “Numerical investigation into hydrogen supply stability and I-V performance of PEM fuel cell system with passive Venturi ejector.” Appl. Therm. Eng. 169 (11): 114908. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.114908.
Liu, Z., J. Chen, H. Liu, C. Yan, Y. Hou, Q. He, J. Zhang, and D. Hissel. 2020. “Anode purge management for hydrogen utilization and stack durability improvement of PEM fuel cell systems.” Appl. Energy 275 (Oct): 115110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115110.
Ma, T., Y. Yang, W. Lin, Y. Yang, W. Jia, and J. Zhang. 2019. “Design of a novel high-efficiency water separator for proton exchange membrane fuel cell system.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 44 (11): 5462–5469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.10.109.
Marandi, S., N. Sarabchi, and M. Yari. 2021. “Exergy and exergoeconomic comparison between multiple novel combined systems based on proton exchange membrane fuel cells integrated with organic Rankine cycles, and hydrogen boil-off gas subsystem.” Energy Convers. Manage. 244 (Jun): 114532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2021.114532.
Oliveira, R., V. Guerra, and G. Lopes. 2019. “Improvement of collection efficiency in a cyclone separator using water nozzles: A numerical study.” Chem. Eng. Process. 145 (Nov): 107667. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2019.107667.
Oshiba, Y., J. Hiura, Y. Suzuki, and T. Yamaguchi. 2017. “Improvement in the solid-state alkaline fuel cell performance through efficient water management strategies.” J. Power Sources 345 (Mar): 221–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.01.111.
Prodromidis, G., and F. Coutelieris. 2014. “Innovative energy storage for Off-Grid RES-Based power systems: Integration of flywheels with hydrogen utilization in fuel cells.” J. Energy Eng. 140 (4): 04014006. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000167.
Ren, H., Q. Deng, F. Wen, J. Du, P. Yu, and J. Tian. 2021. “Joint planning of a distribution system and a charging network for electric vehicles.” J. Energy Eng. 147 (1): 04020085. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000734.
Singer, G., G. Gappmayer, M. Macherhammer, P. Pertl, and A. Trattner. 2022. “A development toolchain for a pulsed injector-ejector unit for PEM fuel cell applications.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 47 (56): 23818–23832. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.05.177.
Song, Y., X. Wang, L. Wang, F. Pan, W. Chen, and F. Xi. 2021. “A twin-nozzle ejector for hydrogen recirculation in wide power operation of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell system.” Appl. Energy 300 (Oct): 117442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117442.
Toghyani, S., E. Baniasadi, and E. Afshari. 2018. “Performance analysis and comparative study of an anodic recirculation system based on electrochemical pump in proton exchange membrane fuel cell.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 43 (42): 19691–19703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.08.194.
Wang, B., D. Zhao, W. Li, Z. Wang, Y. Huang, Y. You, and S. Becker. 2020. “Current technologies and challenges of applying fuel cell hybrid propulsion systems in unmanned aerial vehicles.” Prog. Aerosp. Sci. 116 (Jun): 100620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2020.100620.
Xue, H., L. Wang, H. Zhang, L. Jia, and J. Ren. 2020. “Design and investigation of multi-nozzle ejector for PEMFC hydrogen recirculation.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 45 (28): 14500–14516. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.03.166.
Yalcinoz, T. 2021. “Hybrid system of air-breathing PEM fuel cells/supercapacitors for light electric vehicles: Modeling and simulation.” J. Energy Eng. 147 (5): 04021034. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000787.
Yin, Y., M. Fan, K. Jiao, Q. Du, and Y. Qin. 2016. “Numerical investigation of an ejector for anode recirculation in proton exchange membrane fuel cell system.” Energy Convers. Manage. 126 (Apr): 1106–1117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.09.024.
Zhang, C., W. Zhou, L. Zhang, S.-H. Chan, and Y. Wang. 2015. “An experimental study on anode water management in high temperature PEM fuel cell.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 40 (13): 4666–4672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2015.02.037.
Zhang, H., W. Sun, H. Xue, W. Sun, L. Wang, and L. Jia. 2021a. “Performance analysis and prediction of ejector based hydrogen recycle system under variable proton exchange membrane fuel cell working conditions.” Appl. Therm. Eng. 197 (9): 117369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2021.117369.
Zhang, Q., Z. Tong, S. Tong, Z. Cheng, and L. Lu. 2021b. “Control-Oriented modeling of purging process and cold start of Proton-Exchange membrane fuel cell.” J. Energy Eng. 147 (5): 04021031. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EY.1943-7897.0000779.
Zhao, J., Q. Jian, and Z. Huang. 2020. “Visualization study on enhancing water transport of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with a dead-ended anode by generating fluctuating flow at anode compartment.” Energy Convers. Manage. 206 (8): 112477. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2020.112477.
Zhou, S., X. Jia, H. Yan, and X. Peng. 2021. “A novel profile with high efficiency for hydrogen-circulating Roots pumps used in FCVs.” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 46 (42): 22122–22133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.04.038.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 14, 2022
Accepted: Feb 5, 2023
Published online: Apr 11, 2023
Published in print: Jun 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 11, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Chemical compounds
- Chemical elements
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Continuum mechanics
- Dynamics (solid mechanics)
- Energy efficiency
- Energy engineering
- Energy sources (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering mechanics
- Environmental engineering
- Hydrogen
- Hydrologic engineering
- Hydrologic properties
- Hydrology
- Models (by type)
- Renewable energy
- Solid mechanics
- Steam power
- Structural engineering
- Structural systems
- Three-dimensional models
- Transient response
- Water and water resources
- Water circulation
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
Cited by
- Yusong He, Liang Hao, Minli Bai, Pore-Scale Simulation of Tortuosity in the Catalyst Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Journal of Energy Engineering, 10.1061/JLEED9.EYENG-5363, 150, 4, (2024).