Development and experimental performance investigation of a newly designed phosphoric acid fuel cell system

This study examines the electrochemical and thermal performance of a newly developed phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) system at the cell level, emphasizing electrode material coatings, and the impact of phosphoric acid concentration. Some critical performance parameters, such as temperature, reactant gas flow rates and wt% of the phosphoric acid, are considered and investigated through the experimental tests. Electrochemical assessments, comprising linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and cyclic voltammetry (CV), are performed to analyze the influence of copper, iron, tin, and nickel coatings on the efficacy of the PAFC. Based on the experiments it shows that the highest recorded voltage values are 697.56 mV and 800.12 mV for non-coated plate and nickel-coated plate at 200°C with 3L/m hydrogen and 10L/m oxygen flow rates, 696.9 mV, 800.12 mV, 812.3 mV, 821.75 mV, and 837.27 mV for nickel-coated plate at 200°C with 2L/m, 3L/m, 4L/m, 5L/m, and 6L/m hydrogen flow rates at constant 10L/m oxygen flow rate, and finally 837.27 mV, 839.93 mV, 841 mV, 844.02 mV at 200°C with 10L/m, 12L/m, 14L/m, and 16L/m oxygen flow rate with constant 6L/m hydrogen flow rate. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the fuel cell are 33%, and 25%, respectively. The present study provides a solid theoretical understanding and a practical validation of the thermally stabilized, membraneless PAFC system optimized for low-cost and scalable energy conversion. • A new membraneless phosphoric acid fuel cell system is designed. • Energy and exergy approaches are used to carry out thermodynamic assessments. • Non-precious metals are tested for their electrochemical activities. • Operation parameters are investigated for optimization.