Methanol transient temperature response

Fig. 2 a System for surface temperature infrared (STIR) measurements, b Transient temperature response upon methanol sorption into Na-X zeolite as a function of the square root of time [17]... 

When 2M methanol solution is fed to the stack at a flow rate of 2 ml/min and the stack is operated at a constant voltage output of 3.8V, the transient response of the stack current density is shown in Fig. 3 varying the flow rate of air to the cathode. The stack was maintained at a temperature of 50°C throughout the experiment. As shown in the figure, while the stack current is maintained at the air flow rates higher than 2 L/min, the stack current begins unstable at the slower flow rates. A similar result is shown in Fig. 4 for varying methanol flow rate at an air flow rate of 2 lymin. At a methanol flow rate of 8 ml/min, the current density reaches initially a current density value of about 130 mA/cm and then starts to decrease probably due to medianol crossover. As the methanol flow rate decreases, the stack current density increases slowly until the methanol flow rate reaches 3 ml/min because of the reduced methanol crossover. The current density drops rapidly from the methanol flow rate of 2 ml/min. 

An intrinsic time-dependent one-dimensional (ID) model and a macro two-dimensional (2D) model for the anode of the DMFC are presented in [178]. The two models are based on the dual-site mechanism, which includes the coverage of intermediate species of methanol, OH, and CO on the surface of Pt and Ru. The intrinsic ID model focused on the analysis of the effects of operating temperature, methanol concentration, and overpotential on the transient response. The macro 2D model emphasizes the dimensionless distributions of methanol concentration, overpotential and current density in the CL which were affected by physical parameters such as thickness, specific area, and operating conditions such as temperature, bulk methanol concentration, and overpotential. The models were developed and solved in the PDEs module of COMSOL Multiphysics, giving good agreement with experimental data. The dimensionless distributions of methanol concentration, overpotential, and current density and the efficiency factor were calculated quantitatively. The models can be used to give accurate simulations for the polarizations of methanol fuel cell. 

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