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Modeling and Diagnostics of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells pp 175–200Cite as

High-Resolution Neutron Radiography Analysis of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

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Part of the book series: Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry ((MAOE))

Abstract

Neutron radiography enables direct visualization and quantification of many water transport phenomena in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The advantage of the technique is that neutrons have a long penetration length through most common PEMFC materials of construction (with a 1/e length of about 11 cm for aluminum), while having a relatively short 1/e length for water (of order 3 mm). This sensitivity to water enables precise measurements via neutron radiography of the water content in an operating PEMFC that are primarily limited by systematic measurement uncertainties. Recent advances in the spatial resolution of neutron detector technology enable direct measurement of the through-plane water content. This new data provides gas diffusion layer water profiles that can serve as input or comparison data for a large class of one-dimensional PEMFC models. In this article, the technique of neutron radiography is discussed, with an emphasis on the quantitative image analysis of the through-plane water content.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Certain trade names and company products are mentioned in the text or identified in an illustration in order to adequately specify the experimental procedure and equipment used. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology nor does it imply that the products are necessarily the best available for the purpose

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the US Department of Commerce, the NIST Ionizing Radiation Division, the Director’s office of NIST, the NIST Center for Neutron Research, and the Department of Energy interagency agreement No. DEAI01-01EE50660. The authors wish to acknowledge R. Mukundan, J. Spendelow, R. Borup, and J. Davey from Los Alamos National Laboratory for assistance with the water sorption measurements, and E. Baltic at the National Institute of Standards and Technology for technical support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Dr., MS 8461, Gaithersburg, MD, 20899-8461, USA

    D.S. Hussey & D.L. Jacobson

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  1. D.S. Hussey
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  2. D.L. Jacobson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Mechanical Engineering, Penn State University, University Park, 16802, USA

    Chao-Yang Wang

  2. Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center, University of Connecticut, Weaver Road 44, Storrs, 06269-5233, USA

    Ugur Pasaogullari

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Hussey, D., Jacobson, D. (2009). High-Resolution Neutron Radiography Analysis of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. In: Wang, CY., Pasaogullari, U. (eds) Modeling and Diagnostics of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells. Modern Aspects of Electrochemistry. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-98068-3_5

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