2 research outputs found
Imaging of Gas Flow through a Porous Medium from a Fuel Cell Bipolar Plate by Laser-induced Fluorescence
The flow in a PEM fuel cell bipolar plate
with a diagonal channel structure and across a carbon
paper backing layer has been experimentally studied.
To examine the flow inside the plate, a liquid analogue
preserving dynamic similarity has been used, applying
laser-induced fluorescence. This analogy, however,
cannot be used to study the flow through the carbon
paper, because gas and liquid surface tension are not
equivalent and their flow through a porous medium
will be different. For this analysis this paper proposes
as a novel application, the use of acetone vapor planar
induced fluorescence. With this technique, image sequences
have been obtained to visualize the gas
crossing the backing layer while the plate was filled
with acetone-seeded air. It has been demonstrated that
the pattern of the flow emerging from the diffusion
layer follows that of the pressure distribution in the
plate. Hence, even an apparently non-uniform velocity
distribution of the reactant gases in the plate could
result in an acceptable distribution over the catalyzed
electrode if the pressure field is sufficiently smoothThis research has been partially supported
by the Spanish Education and Science Ministry under the project
ENE2005-09124-C04-03/ALT, and by the Network of Fuel Cell
Batteries of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research.Peer reviewe