Chapter:5
FUEL CELL MASS TRANSPORT
Introduction
Basic condition to produce or generate electricity from Fuel cell is that, it must have supplied the reactants and removed products to avoid any interruptions So, this process of supplying the reactants and removing the products is known as Fuel cell mass transport process.
Mostly in this Chapter we are concerned with the movement of reactants and products within Fuel cell. Various fundamental equations that govern the transport of matter from one location to another are discussed in previous chapter (Charge Transport). We can say that; ionic charge transport is a special subset of mass transport where the mass being transported consists of charged ions. In this Chapter we will concentrate on transport of uncharged species, thus this Chapter is different from the last chapter. Uncharged species are unaffected by voltage gradients and so must instead depend on convective and diffusive forces for movement. Furthermore, we are concerned mostly with gas-phase transport and sometimes with Liquid-phase transport. …show more content…
Poor mass transport causes significant fuel cell performance losses. To determine the reason that why this happens, we need to remember that fuel cell performance is determined by the reactant and product concentrations within the catalyst layer, not at the fuel cell inlet. So, reactant depletion or product accumulation within the catalyst layer will adversely affect performance of the Fuel cell. This loss in performance is called a fuel cell concentration loss or mass transport loss. Careful optimization of mass transport can reduce the concentration losses in the fuel
FUEL CELL MASS TRANSPORT
Introduction
Basic condition to produce or generate electricity from Fuel cell is that, it must have supplied the reactants and removed products to avoid any interruptions So, this process of supplying the reactants and removing the products is known as Fuel cell mass transport process.
Mostly in this Chapter we are concerned with the movement of reactants and products within Fuel cell. Various fundamental equations that govern the transport of matter from one location to another are discussed in previous chapter (Charge Transport). We can say that; ionic charge transport is a special subset of mass transport where the mass being transported consists of charged ions. In this Chapter we will concentrate on transport of uncharged species, thus this Chapter is different from the last chapter. Uncharged species are unaffected by voltage gradients and so must instead depend on convective and diffusive forces for movement. Furthermore, we are concerned mostly with gas-phase transport and sometimes with Liquid-phase transport. …show more content…
Poor mass transport causes significant fuel cell performance losses. To determine the reason that why this happens, we need to remember that fuel cell performance is determined by the reactant and product concentrations within the catalyst layer, not at the fuel cell inlet. So, reactant depletion or product accumulation within the catalyst layer will adversely affect performance of the Fuel cell. This loss in performance is called a fuel cell concentration loss or mass transport loss. Careful optimization of mass transport can reduce the concentration losses in the fuel