Journal
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
Volume 259, Issue -, Pages 15-24Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.02.076
Keywords
Microfluidic fuel cell; Membraneless fuel cell; Air-breathing; Flow-through; Flow-over; Mass transport
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [51376203, 51276208]
- National Natural Science Funds for Outstanding Young Scholar [51222603]
- New Century Excellent Talents in University [NCET-11-0551]
- Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China [20120191110010]
- China Scholarship Council
- Canada Research Chairs program
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A three-dimensional computational model for air-breathing microfluidic fuel cells (AMFCs) with flow-over and flow-through anodes is developed. The coupled multiphysics phenomena of fluid flow, species transport and electrochemical reactions are resolved numerically. The model has been validated against experimental data using an in-house AMFC prototype with a flow-through anode. Characteristics of fuel transfer and fuel crossover for both types of anodes are investigated. The model results reveal that the fuel transport to the flow-over anode is intrinsically limited by the fuel concentration boundary layer. Conversely, fuel transport for the flow-through anode is convectively enhanced by the permeate flow, and no concentration boundary layer is observed. An unexpected additional advantage of the flow-through anode configuration is lower parasitic (crossover) current density than the flow-over case at practical low flow rates. Cell performance of the flow-through case is found to be limited by reaction kinetics. The present model provides insights into the fuel transport and fuel crossover in air-breathing microfluidic fuel cells and provides guidance for further design and operation optimization. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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