Contact resistance prediction of proton exchange membrane fuel cell considering fabrication characteristics of metallic bipolar plates
Contact resistance prediction of proton exchange membrane fuel cell considering fabrication characteristics of metallic bipolar plates
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DOI：
10.1016/j.enconman.2018.05.069
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发表时间：
2018-08-01
影响因子：
10.4
通讯作者：
Ni, Jun
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Liang, Peng;Qiu, Diankai;Ni, Jun
本研究为改进金属双极板（BPPs）的制造工艺，同时降低质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）的接触电阻（CR）和最大功率密度提供了有效的方法。CR在电池的能量转换中起着重要的作用，通常可以通过在BPP表面涂覆来降低CR的含量。然而，制备工艺对CR的影响尚未揭示，特别是对焊接和成形特性的影响。本文建立了BPP/气体扩散层（GDL）组件的三维有限元综合模型，研究了金属BPP制造过程中涂层、焊接和尺寸误差对CR的影响。通过实验验证了模型的准确性。结果表明，金属BPPs与石墨BPPs不同，金属BPPs焊接路径的改变会显著改变电池内电流的方向和分布。在密集焊缝布置的情况下，CR降低了47%。对于涂层工艺，发现当通道数小于20时，单个BPP双面涂层的必要性很低。通过统计仿真研究了尺寸误差对CR的影响，当尺寸误差超过30pm时，CR增加了14.5%。该方法有助于金属bpp的制造管理和PEMFC效率的提高。
This study offers an efficient method to improve manufacturing technique of metallic bipolar plates (BPPs) so as to simultaneously reduce contact resistance (CR) and maximize power density in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). CR plays an important role in the energy conversion in the cell and can be normally reduced by coating on the BPP surface. Nevertheless, the effect of fabrication process on the CR has not been revealed, especially for the welding and forming characteristics. In this paper, a comprehensive three-dimensional finite element model of BPP/gas diffusion layer (GDL) assembly was established to investigate the influences of coating, weld and dimensional error on the CR, which are produced during the fabrication process of metallic BPPs. Experiments were carried out to validate the accuracy of the model. The results indicate that direction and distribution of the current in the cell change significantly with altering the weld path of metallic BPPs, which are different from graphite BPPs. 47% CR reduction is observed for the case of dense weld arrangement. For the coating process, it is found that the necessity of coating on both sides of single BPP is quite low if channel number is less than 20. Statistic simulation was conducted to investigate the effect of dimensional error on CR. Specially, 14.5% increment in CR is found when the dimensional error exceeds 30 pm. The methodology developed is beneficial to the fabrication management of metallic BPPs and the efficiency improvement of PEMFC.