Three-dimensional CFD modeling of a direct formic acid fuel cell

A three-dimensional (3D) with one straight channel computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is developed by using the ESI-CFD software to investigate the effect of varying operating parameters on the performance of direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC) and formic acid crossover from the anode to the cathode side through the membrane. Formic acid concentration (4 M-10 M), temperature (313 K-353 K), anode stoichiometry (1.5-3.0), and cathode stoichiometry (2.0-3.0) are the selected operating parameters in this study. Validation results of the DFAFC are in reasonable agreement with the typical trends reported in the literature on DFAFC performance. Simulation results indicate that formic acid concentration, temperature, anode, and cathode stoichiometry influenced the DFAFC performance and the formic acid crossover. The increments of formic acid concentration or stoichiometric ratio will improve the cell performance; however, the current densities obtained are declining to the increasing temperature. The increase in temperature of the formic acid concentration is found to lead to the decrease in performance. For the formic acid crossover phenomenon, the formic acid crossover flux increases with the increments of formic acid concentration, DFAFC operating temperature, and anode and cathode stoichiometric ratios. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.