In-situ investigation of water distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using high-resolution neutron tomography with 6.5 µm pixel size

Saad S. Alrwashdeh; Falah M. Alsaraireh; Mohammad A. Saraireh; Henning Markötter; Nikolay Kardjilov; Merle Klages; Joachim Scholta; Ingo Manke

doi:10.3934/energy.2018.4.607

AIMS Energy, 2018, 6(4): 607-614. doi: 10.3934/energy.2018.4.607. Research article

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In-situ investigation of water distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using high-resolution neutron tomography with 6.5 µm pixel size

Saad S. Alrwashdeh, Falah M. Alsaraireh, Mohammad A. Saraireh, Henning Markötter, Nikolay Kardjilov, Merle Klages, Joachim Scholta, Ingo Manke

1 Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Mutah University, P.O Box 7, Al-Karak 61710, Jordan
2 Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, 14109 Berlin, Germany
3 Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden Württemberg (ZSW), Helmholtzstraße 8, 89081 Ulm, Germany

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In this feasibility study, high-resolution neutron tomography is used to investigate the water distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Two PEMFCs were built up with two different gas diffusion layers (GDLs) namely Sigracet® SGL-25BC and Freudenberg H14C10, respectively. High-resolution neutron tomography has the ability to display the water distribution in the flow field channels and the GDLs, with very high accuracy. Here, we found that the water distribution in the cell equipped with the Freudenberg H14C10 material was much more homogenous compared to the cell with the SGL-25BC material.

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Keywords: polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell; water transport; high resolution neutron tomography; gas diffusion layers

Citation: Saad S. Alrwashdeh, Falah M. Alsaraireh, Mohammad A. Saraireh, Henning Markötter, Nikolay Kardjilov, Merle Klages, Joachim Scholta, Ingo Manke. In-situ investigation of water distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using high-resolution neutron tomography with 6.5 µm pixel size. AIMS Energy, 2018, 6(4): 607-614. doi: 10.3934/energy.2018.4.607

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