Design of the Efficient Active Spray Humidifier for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

doi:10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.250215

Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry ›› 2025, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (7): 982-992.DOI: 10.19894/j.issn.1000-0518.250215

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Design of the Efficient Active Spray Humidifier for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Yang LI¹, Xing-Wang ZHAO¹, Fang DING²(), Xian WANG³(), Jun-Jie GE³(), Chuan FANG¹

^1.Beijing SinoHytec Co. ，Ltd. ，Beijing 100084，China
^2.School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship，Chengdu Normal University，Chengdu 611130，China
^3.State Key Laboratory of Precision and Intelligent Chemistry，School of Chemistry and Materials Science，University of Science and Technology of China，Hefei 230026，China

Received:2025-05-23 Accepted:2025-06-17 Published:2025-07-01 Online:2025-07-23
Contact: Fang DING,Xian WANG,Jun-Jie GE
About author:gejunjie@ustc.edu.cn
wangxian@ustc.edu.cn
2843690766@qq.com
Supported by:
the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2023YFB4005901);the Beijing High-level Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talent Support Program for Science and Technology New Stars(20240484717);the Special Project for the Construction of High-level Talent Teams in Hebei Province(235A4401D);the Central Guidance for Local Science and Technology Development Funds Project(246Z4402G);the Special Project for Science and Technology R&D Platforms in Hebei Province(24465201D);the Project for the Introduction of High-level Talents at Chengdu Normal University(111-111191301)

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Abstract

Abstract:

The gas humidity of proton exchange membrane fuel cells （PEMFC） has a significant impact on their performance and service life. To control the gas humidity， structural optimization was carried out as follows： first， two generations of uniform-flow atomization chambers were designed. The first generation achieved reverse dispersion of liquid droplets， and the second generation introduced a three-layer uniform-flow plate and four-zonechannels. After computational fluid dynamics（CFD） optimization， the flow error of the four-flow channels was reduced from 4.24% to 1.16%， and the pressure drop was reduced from 8.7 to 5 kPa. Secondly， a two-stage heat exchange architecture was introduced. The primary heat exchanger uses the outlet stack water temperature to preheat the liquid droplets， and the secondary heat exchanger controls the temperature of the humidified air by adjusting the inlet stack water temperature， which can avoid residual liquid water. The dew point at the outlet of the second-stage heat exchanger matches the theoretical value with an error ≤±1 ℃， covering typical working conditions of fuel cells. Combining the second-generation atomization chamber with the two-stage heat exchange architecture， the measured dew point can reach 54.34 ℃ and the measured humidity can reach 63.76 RH%， meeting the high humidity requirements of the stack. This integration of countercurrent spraying， uniform-flow structure， and two-stage heat exchange technology breaks through the limitations of passive humidification and slow response of traditional membrane tube humidifiers， providing a solution for dynamic humidity management in fuel cell systems.

Key words: Proton exchange membrane fuel cell, Spray humidifier, Atomization chamber design, Secondary heat exchange, Humidity regulation

CLC Number:

O646

Yang LI, Xing-Wang ZHAO, Fang DING, Xian WANG, Jun-Jie GE, Chuan FANG. Design of the Efficient Active Spray Humidifier for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells[J]. Chinese Journal of Applied Chemistry, 2025, 42(7): 982-992.

Figures/Tables 14

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the first-generation spray humidification architecture

Fig.2 Schematic diagram of the second-generation spray humidification architecture

Table 1 Calculation of water volume for spray humidification in the air circuit of fuel cell system

j/（mA·cm^-2）	$T c e l l$ /℃	$R H c e l l$ /（RH%）	$P c e l l$ /（kPa·g）	$Q c e l l ? w a t e r$ /（g·min^-1）	$T e n v i r o n m e n t$ /℃	$R H e n v i r o n m e n t$ /（RH%）	$Q E W$ /（g·min^-1）	$Q S H$ /（g·s^-1）
300	64	33	40	206.997 1	-20	0.1	0.002 9	3.45

Table 1 Calculation of water volume for spray humidification in the air circuit of fuel cell system

j/（mA·cm^-2）	$T c e l l$ /℃	$R H c e l l$ /（RH%）	$P c e l l$ /（kPa·g）	$Q c e l l ? w a t e r$ /（g·min^-1）	$T e n v i r o n m e n t$ /℃	$R H e n v i r o n m e n t$ /（RH%）	$Q E W$ /（g·min^-1）	$Q S H$ /（g·s^-1）
300	64	33	40	206.997 1	-20	0.1	0.002 9	3.45

Table 2 Simulation input data for atomization chamber

Air flow rate/（g·s^-1）

Air temperature

into chamber/℃

Required water

volume/（g·s^-1）

Nozzle size

Circulating water temperature/℃

Fig.3 （A） Simulation model of the first-generation atomization chamber and （B） combined simulation model of the first-generation atomization chamber and heat exchanger

Table 3 Flow rate error comparison of four-zone flow channels between the first-generation atomization chamber and the second-generation A atomization chamber， B atomization chamber

Flow rate error /%	1	2	3	4
1^st atomization chamber	-12.55	12.05	11.78	-11.28
2^nd atomization chamber A	3.99	-4.11	-4.12	4.24
2^nd atomization chamber B	-1.01	1.02	1.15	-1.16

Fig.4 The first-generation atomization chamber （A） Temperature simulation diagram and （B） Humidity simulation diagram

Fig.5 （A） Simulation model of the second-generation atomization chamber A；（B） Simulation model of the second-generation atomization chamber B；（C） Pressure drop of the second-generation atomization chamber A；（D） Pressure drop of the second-generation atomization chamber B

Fig.6 The influence of relative positions of （A） horizontal placement，（B） upward inlet and downward outlet and （C） downward inlet and upward outlet on dew point

Fig.7 In the downward inlet and upward outlet placement mode，（A） effects of different spray temperatures and （B） effects of different heat exchanger water temperatures on the dew point

Fig.8 Placement mode of downward inlet and upward outlet for the first-generation atomization chamber + secondary heat exchanger，（A） test data of dew point and evaporation ratio under stack operating conditions and （B） comparison of evaporation ratios under different humidity conditions

Table 4 Test data of dew point and temperature for spray humidification architecture under stack operating conditions

Current density/（mA·cm^-2）	Measured dew point/℃	Theoretical dew point/℃	Measured temperature/℃	Theoretical temperature/℃
100	43.00	43.91	57.60	58
200	43.58	43.91	58.80	58
300	38.94	39.43	64.00	64
400	40.35	40.28	65.50	65
500	40.11	40.28	65.90	65
600	41.98	41.97	67.80	67
700	42.23	42.82	68.70	68
800	43.28	43.67	69.90	69
900	43.76	44.51	70.20	70

Fig.9 Placement mode of downward inlet and upward outlet for the second-generation atomization chamber + secondary heat exchanger. （A） Changes in dew point and evaporation ratio under different humidity conditions；（B） Photos of the joint debugging of the spray humidification architecture and the stack；（C） Comparison of polarization curves during the joint debugging of the spray humidification architecture and the stack

Table 5 Performance comparison of the stack with spray humidification architecture and membrane tube humidification architecture

Current density/（mA·cm^-2）	Performance （V） of single cell in the stack with spray humidification architecture	Performance （V） of a single cell in the stack with membrane tube humidification architecture
100	0.850	0.852
200	0.822	0.820
300	0.802	0.800
400	0.783	0.784
500	0.765	0.766
600	0.755	0.757
700	0.747	0.747
800	0.740	0.739
900	0.735	0.736

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Design of the Efficient Active Spray Humidifier for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

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