Experimental study on heat dissipation performance of automotive fuel cells

doi:10.19799/j.cnki.2095-4239.2023.0560

Abstract

Abstract:

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) serves as a widely used power generation device in transportation, energy storage, aerospace, and military applications owing to its high energy-efficient conversion rate, clean operation, and reliability. To address the challenges of PEMFC, specifically its high heat dissipation density, high heat generation, and low heat dissipation efficiency, an experimental bench for an automotive fuel cell heat dissipation system was constructed. This system incorporated four different flow heat exchangers, catering to a 15 kW PEMFC with a heat dissipation issue. The experimental setup employed two-phase cooling mediums, namely HFE-7100 and an aqueous ethylene glycol solution. The investigation focused on their thermal performance and system energy efficiency rating under different process heat exchangers and various medium flow rates at 35 ℃. The results showed that under the same flow path, HFE-7100 two-phase cooling medium exhibited an improved heat dissipation rate between 81.2% and 98.8%, with a system energy efficiency ratio (EER) improvement rate between 68.2% and 88.6% compared with ethylene glycol aqueous liquid cooling. Among the four different flow paths, flow path 3 demonstrated the best system heat dissipation and EER. Specifically, HFE-7100 two-phase cooling achieved heat dissipation and system EER of 14.4 kW and 20.5 kW/kW, while ethylene glycol aqueous liquid cooling reached 7.7 kW and 12.1 kW/kW, respectively. At a cooling medium flow rate of 4 L/min, the system exhibited better energy-saving effects, with the two-phase and liquid-cooling heat dissipation system EER reaching 20.9 and 10.5 kW/kW, respectively.

Key words: proton exchange membrane fuel cell, heat exchangers for different process, two-phase cooling medium, EER

CLC Number:

TM 911.4

Jing BAI, Huifang FAN, Siqi CUI, Chuang XU, Yi ZHANG, Size GUAN, Hanfei YANG, Yifei JIA, Shuwei GENG, Huifan ZHENG. Experimental study on heat dissipation performance of automotive fuel cells[J]. Energy Storage Science and Technology, 2024, 13(2): 390-395.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1

Table 1

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设备名称	型号	参数
水泵	NP190	名义流量：1.9 mL/rev；额定流量：5.4 L/min；转速调节范围：500~3600 r/min；额定电压：DC24 V
加热端	自制	由冷板-加热板-冷板组成，加热板采用硅橡胶加热板，尺寸为320 mm×160 mm×3 mm，连接温控器进行温度控制；冷板采用铝制结构，尺寸为320 mm×160 mm×18 mm，内部管道宽度为40 mm；保温层采用聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料，厚度为15 mm
换热器	平行流换热器	采用全铝材料制造，主要是由集流管、翅片、扁管以及百叶窗构成。在集流管中采用隔断，形成4种不同流程布置(1流程、2流程布置为22-12，3流程布置为16-12-6，4流程布置为12-10-8-4)
风机	WSLNF-261WX-5-10	额定转速：(3150±50) r/min；最大风量：2500 m³/h；电机功率：300 W，按PWM调速器百分比控制风机大小

测量装置	测量参数	测量精度	生产厂家
压力传感器	压力	±0.5%	Danfoss
温度传感器	温度	±0.5 ℃	Danfoss
风量测量仪	风速	±3%	DILIXI
温控器	温度	0.5级	上海奥仪电器
质量流量计	质量流量	±0.2%	大连卓川科技

环境温度/℃	换热器流程	冷却工质流量/(L/min)	风机转速百分比
35	1	3.5	80%
	2
	3
	4
35	3	3	80%
		3.5
		4
		4.5

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