Thermo-Electrical Behaviour of Al2O3 and SiO2 Nanofluids in A Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Cooling Channel

M.A.N. Zarizi, I. A. Zakaria, M.N.I. Johari, W. A. N. W. Mohamed, Raja Mazuir Raja Ahsan Shah

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    6 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) generates electricity through the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. PEMFC is considered clean technology since the by-products of the reaction are only electricity, water, and heat. Thermal management of PEMFC can be further improved through the adoption of nanofluids as its cooling medium. Nanofluids are fluids that contain suspensions of nanoparticles in their base fluid. Nanofluids have better heat transfer performance as compared to their base fluid due to their significant thermal conductivity improvement. However, unlike any other heat transfer application, there is a strict limit on the electrical conductivity of the nanofluids due to their electrically active environment. Therefore, there is a possible current leakage to the coolant due to the nanofluids’ conductive behavior. In this study, heat transfer performance and current drop of 0.5% Al2O3 and 0.5% SiO2 water were investigated. The nanofluids were forced to flow in a charged channel subjected to a heater pad of 60°C to 70°C to mimic the operating condition of a PEMFC. The performance of each nanofluid was observed and compared to distilled water. The channel temperature was reduced by 43.3 % and 42.7 % by Al2O3 and SiO2 nanofluids, respectively, compared to base fluids at Re 700. In terms of current drop, SiO2 nanofluids have the highest current drop with 2.33 % from the initial current value. It was further justified with the increment in electrical conductivity value of the fluids after the experiment, thus justifying the current leakage hypothesis.
    Original languageEnglish
    Article numberJST-2788-2021
    Pages (from-to)1381-1396
    Number of pages16
    JournalPertanika Journal of Science and Technology
    Volume30
    Issue number2
    Early online date28 Mar 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2022

    Funder

    Funding Information: support under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) No. FRGS/1/2019/TK10/ UITM/02/12 (University reference 600-IRMI/FRGS 5/3 (375/2019))

    Keywords

    • Current drop
    • PEM fuel cell
    • heat transfer
    • nanofluids

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Business, Management and Accounting(all)
    • Arts and Humanities(all)
    • Social Sciences(all)
    • Economics, Econometrics and Finance(all)

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Thermo-Electrical Behaviour of Al2O3 and SiO2 Nanofluids in A Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) Cooling Channel'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this