Evaluation of cooling system in an industrial fuel cell setup by effectively managing exhaust water

Abstract

Fuel cells are an emerging portable energy source known for their high energy density and ability to produce clean, sustainable energy. Unlike traditional combustion processes that directly burn fuels to release energy, fuel cells harness energy from the reaction between the fuel and the oxidizer while producing minimal pollutants and greenhouse gases. When it comes to the industrial scale, a more significant drawback is managing the exhaust water. One primary application is the capture and reuse of exhaust water for cooling purposes within the fuel cell system. By utilizing the waste heat generated during the electrochemical reaction, the exhaust water can serve as a cooling agent, reducing the need for external cooling systems and enhancing the overall energy efficiency of the fuel cell. This study aims to investigate various aspects of fuel cell systems, such as quality analysis of exhaust water samples from Volvo Penta fuel cell setup, a literature survey on various applications that can be used for exhaust water, and developing 1D and 3D models for two of the identified applications. The first application is to vaporize the water using a chimney/muffler, which is most suitable for mobile applications such as trucks and marine applications. Chimney size is optimized through the Matlab Simulink model. The other application is proposed to use water as a cooling agent for a radiator setup which can be used for both stationary and mobile applications. CFD analysis is done to simulate and optimize the setup using Creo-ANSYS by considering water storage, spraying patterns, and system dynamics. Results are shown that there is a 4.8 percent increase in overall efficiency. As a summary, this report will try to clarify how to improve the industrial fuel cell setups, which can be considered a feasible alternative to substitute conventional mobility methods.