Effect of pervaporation plate thickness on the rate of methanol evaporation in a passive vapor-feed direct methanol fuel cell

7th International Conference on Cooling & Heating Technologies

材料科学;物理学

Fauzi, N.F.I.^1 ; Hasran, U.A.^1 ; Kamarudin, S.K.^1

Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM, Bangi, Selangor

43600, Malaysia^1

关键词: Darcy's law;    Liquid methanol;    Methanol transport;    Methanol vapors;    Phase Change;    Plate thickness;    Three dimensional simulations;    Vapor chamber;   

Others  :  https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/88/1/012055/pdf
DOI  :  10.1088/1757-899X/88/1/012055

学科分类：材料科学（综合）

来源: IOP

【 摘 要 】

In a passive vapor-feed direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), methanol vapor is typically obtained using a pervaporation plate in a process by which liquid methanol contained in the fuel reservoir undergoes a phase change to vapor in the anodic vapor chamber. This work investigates the effect of pervaporation plate thickness on the rate of methanol evaporation using a three-dimensional simulation model developed by varying the plate thickness. A. The rate of methanol evaporation was measured using Darcy's law. The rate of methanol evaporation was found to be inversely proportional to the plate thickness, where the decrease in thickness inevitably lowers the resistance along the plate and consequently increases the methanol transport through the plate. This shows that the plate thickness has a significant influence on the rate of methanol evaporation and thereby plays an important role in improving the performance of the passive vapor-feed direct methanol fuel cell.