TY  - JOUR
Y1  - 2016/06/10/
AV  - public
VL  - 203
SP  - 198
EP  - 205
TI  - Nitrogen Blanketing and Hydrogen Starvation in Dead-Ended-Anode Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells Revealed by Hydro-Electro-Thermal Analysis
N1  - Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2016.04.018
SN  - 0013-4686
N2  - Dead-ended anode operation has a number of practical advantages that simplify system complexity and lower cost for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. However, dead-ended mode leads to performance loss over time which can only be reversed by performing intermittent purge events. This work applies a combined hydro-electro-thermal analysis to an air-cooled open-cathode fuel cell, presenting experimental functional maps of water distribution, current density and temperature. This approach has allowed the identification of a 'nitrogen blanketing' effect due to nitrogen cross-over from the cathode and a 'bypass' effect where a peripheral gap between the gasket and the GDL offers a hydrogen flow 'short circuit' to the border of the electrode. A consequence of high local current density at the margin of the electrode, and resulting high temperatures, may impact the lifetime of the cell in dead-end mode.
ID  - discovery1498675
A1  - Meyer, Q
A1  - Ashton, S
A1  - Torija, S
A1  - Gurney, C
A1  - Boillat, P
A1  - Cochet, M
A1  - Engebretsen, E
A1  - Finegan, DP
A1  - Adcock, P
A1  - Shearing, PR
A1  - Brett, DJL
KW  - Dead-ended anode; bypass effect; neutron imaging; nitrogen blanketing; current and temperature mapping
JF  - Electrochimica Acta
ER  -