Experimental analysis of the performance characteristics of the regenerative fuel cell system based on serpentine flow-field design

Abstract

The energy demand has recently been increasing dramatically; thus, it is evident that scientists worldwide need to find out the solution to solve the above problem. Among these technologies, solar and wind power energy are the most potential source as alternatives to fossil fuels. However, these energy sources are not continuous and are therefore considered as additional sources. A regenerative fuel cell (RFC) is a type of fuel cell that can function as an electrolyzer and fuel cell; therefore, this system is an independent power source and overcome the drawbacks of the original fuel cell system. This research has built a system to control the entire regenerative fuel cell system’s flow, temperature, and energy. The system uses electricity to produce hydrogen and oxygen for storage; when the electrical power is insufficient, the system can automatically reverse the operation using hydrogen and oxygen to create electrical energy. The result showed that the power density in fuel cell mode ranges from 0.1 to 0.69W/cm² in the fuel cell mode, and the flow rate of hydrogen and oxygen reaches a stable value of 1100 and 2200 ml/min after 10 minutes, respectively.