In-operando water visualization in fuel cells

由于所有部门对零排放运输系统的需求日益迫切，氢和燃料电池行业目前在全球范围内获得了巨大的发展势头。然而，燃料电池电动汽车的大规模商业化仍然需要大幅降低成本，然后才能在消费市场推广。实现这一成本降低的一个途径是以更高的功率密度运行燃料电池，从而减少它们的总体足迹。然而，这一收益被较高的产水率所抵消，其有效的去除变得至关重要。因此，本提案涉及的目标是确定运行中的燃料电池的多孔介质中的整体液态水分布。这项工作利用了西蒙·弗雷泽大学和巴拉德电力系统公司之间长期的大学-工业燃料电池研究伙伴关系。设想的产生新结果的方法是利用X射线计算机断层扫描和专门设计的X射线透明装置来显示燃料电池中多个相关长度尺度的液态水。所有结果将与Ballard分享，根据具体结果，将建议燃料电池设计策略以缓解或推迟溢流，从而提高燃料电池的性能和耐用性。加拿大将通过几种方式获得好处；最引人注目的是通过向Ballard转让知识和技术，Ballard是燃料电池开发和制造领域的世界领先者，有能力在全球市场上利用项目成果实现零排放机动性。

The hydrogen and fuel cell industry is currently gaining significant momentum worldwide due to the increasingly urgent need for zero-emission transportation systems across all sectors. Large-scale commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles, however, still requires significant cost reductions prior to their diffusion within the consumer market. A route to achieving this cost reduction is to operate fuel cells at higher power density and thus reducing their overall footprint. However, this gain is offset by the higher rate of water production and its efficacious removal becomes crucial. The objective addressed in this proposal is therefore to determine the overall liquid water distribution in the porous media of an operating fuel cell. This work leverages a long-standing university-industry fuel cell research partnership between Simon Fraser University and Ballard Power Systems. The approach envisioned to yield novel results is to utilize X-ray computed tomography and specially designed X-ray transparent setups to visualize liquid water across multiple length scales of relevance in fuel cells. All results will be shared with Ballard and depending on the specific outcomes, fuel cell design strategies to mitigate or delay flooding and hence improve fuel cell performance and durability will be suggested. The benefits to Canada will be accrued in several ways; most notably through knowledge and technology transfer to Ballard, a world leader in fuel cell development and manufacturing that has the capacity to exploit the project outcomes across worldwide markets for zero-emission mobility.