fc3

Energy 179 (2019) 246e267
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy
Energy efficiency improvements by investigating the water flooding

management on proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
O.S. Ijaodola a, Zaki El- Hassan a, E. Ogungbemi a, F.N. Khatib a, Tabbi Wilberforce a,
James Thompson a, A.G. Olabi b, c, *
a
Institute of Engineering and Energy Technologies, University of the West of Scotland, UK
b
Dept. of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
c
School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: This paper presents a broad study of research work associated with the effect of water flooding and
Received 13 September 2018 management in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) which operates at relatively low tem-
Received in revised form peratures at conditions that could allow the accumulation of water that degrade cell performance.
22 January 2019
Recent studies confirm the importance of proper water balance during cell operation to avoid both
Accepted 13 April 2019
Available online 23 April 2019
dehydration and flooding. Condition to ensure the PEM remains hydrated while excessive water
condensation is prevented are identified and analysed.
The work review current literature and examines the different mechanisms of water transport in
Keywords:
PEM fuel cells
PEMFCs and their relative importance and impact on cell operation. The work analyse the effect of water
Anode region accumulation at both the anode and the cathode regions and discusses the impact on cell efficiency of
Cathode region each.
Membrane This work reviews recent development in this field and examines the approaches used such as
Water flooding improved flow field designs, improved membrane chemical formulation to increase hydrophilicity,
Water management manipulation of operating pressure, optimisation of operating temperature, the level of humidification,
Serpentine flow field channels optimisation of gas flow rate and mechanical modification of the membrane structure among other
Open pore metal foam
techniques.
The work examines recent advances in the techniques for non-intrusive in-situ water detection,
monitoring and characterisation and compares their effectiveness.
The work concludes by a critical review of recent studies that examined different strategies that could
prevent water flooding and promote proper water management in PEM fuel cells. This includes water
management control strategies designed to improve the voltage and current density at specific operating
conditions.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction that are essential for our way of life and economies [8]. These are
the major causes why there is urgent need for clean alternative
Concerns persist over the environmental impact of fossil fuels energy sources. In recent years, the capacity of renewable energy
used in transport and electricity generation due to their harmful technologies such as hydroelectricity, wind energy and solar power
environmental and health impacts [1e7]. Also, the reliance on has increased considerably but still do not meet the energy de-
depleting resources such as fossil fuels, which are mainly produced mands of the world [9]. However, due to only heat and water being
by oil countries regions with political instability and security con- the by-products and for their high efficiencies, fuel cells are
cerns, raises questions about the security of supply of commodities becoming credible candidates to provide energy for transport and
other application but more research is still needed to improve the
overall efficiency of fuel cells use cycle including the production of
the fuel for the cells. In a PEM fuel cell an electrolyte membrane is
* Corresponding author. Dept. of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, sandwiched between two electrodes allowing protons to pass
University of Sharjah, P.O. Box 27272, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
E-mail address: aolabi@sharjah.ac.ae (A.G. Olabi).
through it but at the same time it is impermeable to electrons
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.04.074
0360-5442/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
O.S. Ijaodola et al. / Energy 179 (2019) 246e267 247
[10,11]. The anode side is negatively charged electrode and the Wolfgang and Ardalan [21] stated that when the rate of removal
cathode side is positively charged electrode as shown in Fig. 1. of water is higher than that of water production through reaction,
Electrochemical reactions take place at the catalyst sites on both there may not be enough water to keep the electrolyte membrane
sides of the membrane. The hydrogen is split into protons and hydrated which will cause it to dry out resulting in a drop of voltage
electrons at the anode catalyst layer, protons pass across the in the PEM fuel cell and its overall efficiency. Dong et al. [22]
membrane while the electrons are transported through an external concluded that rib structure and capillary force have a tremendous
electrical circuit, which generates useful electric work and move effect on liquid water transport and distribution in the GDL which
across to the other side of the membrane (cathode region) where it could enhance the removal of water from the GDL to avoid water
meets with the protons to form hydrogen. The air or pure oxygen flooding.
entering into the fuel cell from the cathode side will go through an Carton et al. [23] modelled slug formation and droplet accu-
electro-chemical process with hydrogen at the cathode catalyst mulation in the channels of a PEM fuel cell. They employed the
layer and the end products is water and heat [12e14]. The reactions Volume of Fluid (VOF) model in ANSYS Fluent to visualise the slug
that take place are shown in equations (1)e(3): formation and water movement. Carton et al. [23] found out that
coalescence of water droplets and excess water in the channels can
Anode region: H2/2Hþþ2e (1) lead to the formation of slugs in the cell and bends and steps in the
flow channels could disrupt movement of slug and prevent channel
Cathode region: 1/2O2 þ 2Hþ þ 2e / H2O (2) blockage.
Erni et al. [24] investigated the impact of operating pressures
Total reaction: H2 þ 1/2O2 / H2O (3) and temperatures on water transport in a PEM fuel cell and re-
ported that at the anode region relative humidity decrease was
A major challenge that impacts the performance of the PEM fuel caused by higher pressures and temperatures. As the membrane
cell is the excess water in the cell which is produced by the oxygen water content reduced along the flow channel, the ionic conduc-
reduction reaction as described by Eq. (2) at the cathode region or if tivity of the membrane and electro osmotic drag coefficient
protons are transported with water through the electrolyte mem- decreased. Asif et al. [25] conducted a numerical study on the
brane from the anode region to the cathode region through electro- behaviour of liquid water rising from GDL in a dead end mode at
osmotic drag [15]. anode channel. They concluded that when the current density in-
Judith et al. [16] explain that if water generation level is higher creases the water production and flooding also increase in the
than water removal level, there will be accumulation of water channel.
which leads to water flooding. Once the gas diffusion layer (GDL) Water management is essential in achieving durability and
pores are filled with water, transportation of reactants to the maximum performance of a PEM fuel cell. A minimum amount of
catalyst layer (CL) becomes impeded and the active catalyst sites water is necessary so as to improve the ionic conductivity in the
will be masked with water. In addition, excess water in a PEM fuel proton electrolyte membrane but too much water causes flooding
cell will cause water bands and water columns forming inside the in the cell.
flow field channels whereby the flow of gas becomes clogged or Yuehua et al. [26] argued that proper understanding of water
blocked [17,18]. According to Alfredo and Pierre [19], water flows management is important to find an equilibrium point between
from the cathode region to the anode region in a process called back electrolyte membrane dehydration and flooding for the purpose of
diffusion and the later part of the paper discusses this in more ensuring high performance of the cell.
details. Chen et al. [20] studied the dynamics of water in the anode
flow field channels at different operating conditions. They found
2. Transport of water in PEM fuel cell
out that as liquid water droplets size increases, pressure drop also
increases which reduces the time taken for the water to leave the
Water management plays an important role in overall fuel cell
channels.
performance and it is one of the serious challenges facing fuel cells
Fig. 1. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEM fuel cell) [13].
248 O.S. Ijaodola et al. / Energy 179 (2019) 246e267
designers and manufacturers even when they implement widely membrane, the presence of EOD will lead to water flooding in the
used and studied designs. Nik et al. [27] stated that in order to fuel cell which will impact the electrochemical reaction rate and
achieve a proper water management in a fuel cell two requirements lead to drop in the cell efficiency [41].
need to be fulfilled: preventing water flooding inside the fuel cell The coefficient of EOD is expressed as the number of moles of
and keeping the membrane adequately hydrated. water associated with 1 mol of protons that is transported along the
The two main water transportation mechanisms in PEM fuel cell membrane in the absence of pressure and concentration gradients
are electro-osmotic drag and back diffusion [28] and water trans- [42].
port determines the hydration level of an electrolyte membrane, Feina et al. [43] studied water balance across a Nafion mem-
which is essential in supporting proton conductivity to pass brane by electrophoresis NMR (ENMR) method to determine elec-
through it easily [29,30]. tro osmotic drag coefficient. The results showed that the water
electro osmotic drag coefficient within the Nafion membrane
2.1. Mechanism of the transportation of water in PEM fuel cell depended on the water content of the Nafion membrane and the
kind of counter-cation used. Zhiping et al. [44] explained that
In addition to electro-osmotic drag and back diffusion, there are electro-osmotic drag coefficient increased with increase in tem-
other methods through which water is being transported such as perature between 20 C and 90 C.
thermal-osmotic drag and hydraulic permeation [31]. Recent
research has focused mainly on electro-osmotic drag and back 2.1.3. Back diffusion (BD)
diffusion because they are seen as the major causes of water This type of water transport is a result of the excess water
flooding in fuel cells [32]. Good knowledge of the mechanisms of generated at the cathode region which diffuses back to the anode
the transportation of water is key for improved performance of the region. Water diffuses back from the cathode along the membrane
fuel cell. empty space as result of water concentration gradients in the fuel
Fig. 2 illustrates the mechanism of how water transportation cell [45,46] and research activity on BD from the cathode region to
occurs in a PEM fuel cell. the anode region has attracted considerable interest recently. In
addition to water concentration gradient, membrane thickness and
2.1.1. Thermal-osmotic drag (TOD) pressure gradient through the membrane are among the other
The effect of thermal osmotic drag on water management was factors that determine the BD coefficient [47]. Experimental studies
not studied in details in the past and water transport as result of have also been conducted to measure the back diffusion coefficient
temperature effects started to attract attention recently. Thermal of water [48]. The earlier research conducted showed huge differ-
osmotic drag is caused by differences in temperature through the ences between the measured values [48] and the discrepancies
membrane in the fuel cell [33e35]. During observation of fuel cell were attributed to the applied measurement techniques according
operation, it was noted that water flow was from cold to hot regions to Majsztrik et al. [48] who concluded that the various methods
[36]. During fuel cell operation a temperature gradient do occurs used measured different rate processes. Majsztrik et al. also
across the electrolyte membrane. In addition, it is considered that accounted for the swelling of the membrane and their work was
one of the main mechanisms of TOD is the effect of heat pipe. This further developed by Paul et al. [49] who emphasised the impor-
heat pipe effect exists in a PEM fuel cell at the catalyst layer and is tance of the kinetics of sorption and desorption and their effect on
cause by the evaporation of water which moves as vapour then water activity and temperature.
condenses down a path as a result of temperature decrease given
the temperature gradient in the cell. This mode of transport is 2.1.4. Hydraulic permeation (HP)
significant during start up and shut down of the fuel cell [37]. In a PEM fuel cell, hydraulic permeation takes place due to
pressure gradient between the anode and the cathode regions [50].
2.1.2. Electro-osmotic drag (EOD) This results in water fluxes in the membrane because of the
The protons travel along the membrane from the anode to the capillary pressure differential or gas phase pressure differential
cathode region with water molecules being carried along through [51]. Amayol and Bahrami [52] stated that if the cells are pressur-
the membrane. The process of water being dragged by the protons ised separately in such a way that the fuel gas (anode side) is being
across the membrane is known as electro-osmotic drag [38e40]. As supplied with a lower pressure than the oxidant gas (cathode side),
explained earlier, water management affects the performance of this may help in reducing water at the cathode. It is important to
the fuel cell and the hydration of the membrane increases the note that before pressurising the anode and cathode region
proton conductivity. When there is too much water in the differently, membrane mechanical strength needs to be properly
Fig. 2. Mechanism of water transport in PEM fuel cell.

considered [53,54]. In addition to impeding gas movement, flooding in the fuel cell
Water flux (Jnmw, hyd, kmol m2 s1) can be related to hydraulic causes water to cover the catalyst sites thus creating a barrier be-
permeation resulting from the pressure gradient by eqn (4) [Need tween the catalyst and the reactive substances. To avoid the impact
consistent reference to equations] [55]: of flooding on the performance of the fuel cell, understanding the
mechanisms of water transport in the fuel cell is necessary.
Knmw rmem Knmw Although measures need to be taken to avoid flooding, it is
Jnmw;hyd ¼ cnmw Vpnwm ¼ lnf Vp (4)
mnmw EW mlq important to recognise that keeping the membrane well hydrated
increases its life span and reduces the cost of the cell [65e67].
where Cnmw is concentration of non-frozen water in ionomer (kmol
m3), Knmw (m2) is permeability, mnmw (kg m1 s1) is the dynamic 3.1. Impact at the cathode
viscosity of non-frozen water in an ionomer (it is mainly replaced
by liquid water properties), and pnmw (Pa) is pressure of the non- At the cathode region, oxygen is being supplied to the PEM fuel
frozen water in an ionomer [55]. The negative sign signifies the cell by diffusion via the GDL to the cathode catalyst layer and it
decrease of pressure decrease in the direction of water diffusion or interacts with the protons that move along the membrane and
increased path length. electrons that travel across the external load to form water and
produce heat [68e70].
3. Impact of water management (flooding) on PEM fuel cell Water accumulation at the cathode may be due to the formation
(water issues within PEM fuel cell) of electro-chemical reaction products at the cathode on its own or
coupled with other factors such excess humidification of the
As the system operation continues and water builds up over hydrogen feed and electro-osmotic drag [71]. McCain et el [72].
time, severe water flooding will occur especially when operating at explains that when there is flooding in the cell the water may
low temperature and this could temporarily block the gas flow accumulate at the GDL which will block the surface of the catalyst
paths [56,57]. layer that is supposed to facilitate the electro-chemical reaction
In most of the investigations conducted so far, the membranes of thus preventing oxygen reduction reaction (as shown in Fig. 3). This
most fuel cells where the electrochemical reactions occur are made lead to a situation where the current and voltage will not be pre-
up of Nafion. To increase the protonic conductivity of most Nafion dictable and the performance of the cell will deteriorate. However,
membranes, the membrane must be fully hydrated and by doing excess accumulated water could be removed by capillary transport
this the proton conductivity is increased by an order of magnitude of cathode channels, by means of water-vapour diffusion or evap-
of six [58]. Water often accumulates at the cathode region at low oration and BD to anode region. The evaporation and water-vapour
operating temperatures. This makes the fuel cell prone to flooding diffusion usually happen at high cell operating temperature [73,74].
especially when reacting hydrogen and oxygen electrochemically Jamekhorshid et al. [75] investigated the performance of cath-
together at temperatures less than 100 C at atmospheric pressure. ode flooding environments of a PEM fuel cell. Two-dimensional
It is also possible to channel water from the cathode to the anode GDL models of partially flooded cells based on electrochemical
region via the membrane through local pressure and concentration relations and laws of mass conservation were proposed for the
gradients [59]. study. Jamekhorshid et al. [75] observed that the cell performed
Datong et al. [60] concluded that occurrence of liquid water well when it was in operation at a higher temperature which
flooding in the GDL hinders the oxidant transportation and flooding prevent water flooding as more water joins the vapour phase. Fig. 4
of the cathode catalyst layer does not only block oxygen transport shows the polarization curves for different levels of water flooding
in the cell but covers the active catalyst area and degrades the as well as a flooding free PEM fuel cell. The three curves for the
performance of the cell. flooded cells show drastic fall in the cell performance as the water
Ugur and Wang [61] explain that flooding reduces the mass flooding increases in the cell. This is due to the fact that as water
transport functionality of catalyst layer and gas diffusion layer accumulation increases, more of the catalysts sites are covered by
predominantly in the cathode region. This reduces the magnitude water and made inaccessible to the reacting gases.
of the current and voltage being generated hence degrades the Eikerlinga [77] studied water management of cathode catalyst
overall performance characteristics of the fuel cell. Once the fuel layers (CCL) in PEMFC. The results show that CCL behaves similar to
cell begins to get flooded, water needs to flow from the electrodes watershed in the fuel cell which helps to balance the opposite
regions through the GDL into the channels and flow out of the fuel water flux across the membrane and cathode region outlet. Najjari
cell to reduce flooding. Very often nearly one third of the mem- et al. [78] conducted experiments to observe the effects of water
brane is not utilised in instances where the fuel cell is flooded [60]. flooding on GDL because of the accumulation of water in the fuel
Two hypothesises explain the movement of the water through cell and their results confirmed that excess liquid water affects fuel
the GDL with the first being the converging passageway of water cell performance drastically. Najjari et al. [78] concluded that a
transport mechanism and the second being channelling liquid thinner GDL will result in a lower resistance for oxygen transport
water transport mechanisms and the two theories suggested the and liquid water is more likely to block the pores easily than vice-
possibilities of water flooding in the GDL [62]. The water formed versa. Das et al. [79] investigated the effect of flooding on cell
often starts as droplets that then coalesce and start building up in performance and they concluded that if the cathode catalyst layer
the GDL before flowing into the flow field channels or the bipolar active reaction area reduces due to liquid water, an increase in
plates[63]. This phenomenon occurs because of capillary effects in activation over-potential will occur.
the GDL [60e63].
According to the work of Turkmen et al. [48], when the gases 3.2. Impact at the anode
flow through a thin GDL with small pores a good electrical con-
ductivity is observed but for effective mass transport the pores At the anode region hydrogen is dissociated into protons and
need to be larger. Cao et al. [64] study stressed the fact that these electrons on the catalyst layer. The protons pass across the mem-
conditions normally occur in the fuel cell depending on its opera- brane to the cathode region while the electrons are transported
tional conditions such as the inlet temperature, humidification through the external circuit to the cathode region [80,81]. The
level and gas flow rates. membrane needs to be hydrated to avoid dryness that leads to ionic
Fig. 3. A conceptual schematic describing liquid water accumulation in the GDL and later flow to the field channel to build a blockage reactant film [72].
time for a single cell at a stable current density of 1 A cm2. As the

voltage starts dropping over time, water flooding increases [84].
Lee and Bae [85] experiments showed that the major cause of
anode flooding is low gas flow rate in the channel. However, in the
fuel cell stack when water blocks a channel, the fuel gas is diverted
to the unblocked channel of another cell which causes fluctuations
and voltage drop. Lee and Bae [85] concluded that this occurs as a
result of water flooding at the anode or cathode regions. Zhang et al.
[86] investigated the water vapour transportation from the cathode
region to the anode region during operation at high temperatures
within the fuel cell. The polarization curve, transient ohmic resis-
tance and the voltage were used in analysing the results and they
concluded that in flow through mode of operation water vapour
has little effect. On the other hand under dead end mode of oper-
ation it brings about stability. Zhang et al. [86] further argued that
water cross over to the anode hinders the diffusion of hydrogen and
causes reduced cell performance.
3.3. Impact on flow field channels

Fig. 4. Polarization curves of a PEM fuel cell showing no flooding and the effect of
water flooding on cell performance [76]. Water flooding also occurs in the gas flow field channels and this
depends on the design of the flow channels, characteristics of the
material of the components of the fuel cell and the operating
resistance. However, water can flow to the anode region from the
conditions. Flooding in the flow field will stop the reactant gas from
cathode region through back diffusion which will result in flooding
reaching the catalyst layer and prevent the electro-chemical reac-
and drop in produced voltage [82,83]. Fig. 5 shows voltage against
tion from taking place [87].
As could be seen from the discussion so far, the design of flow
field channel contributes to water flooding and most common
types of flow field designs are “Parallel”, “Interdigitated” and
“Serpentine” as shown in Fig. 6. Researchers have proved over the
years that parallel flow field design is liable to flooding and unac-
ceptable amount of non-uniformity in the air streams flow because
the gases flow inside the parallel channels through the surface of
the GDL which causes water accumulation [88] but parallel flow
design is appropriate for application that requires low pressure
drop and high gas flow rates [89].
The interdigitated flow field has dead end in both the inlet and
outlet of the flow field channel. Consequently, both the reactant
and product transport to and from catalyst layer along the GDL is by
convection rather than by diffusion [90,91]. The serpentine flow
field is mostly used in the industry as a result of its high cell per-
formance, good reliability and durability resulting from its layout
[92]. Serpentine flow channel is also better because it is not prone
to flooding like the other conventional designs but it has some
Fig. 5. A profiles of voltage decline profiles of a single cells for 1600 h at constant limitations like major power loss due to high pressure drop and
current density of 1 A cm2 [84]. drop in the reactant concentration along the flow field path [93].
Fig. 6. (a) Parallel flow field channel (b) interdigitated flow field channel (c) serpentine flow field design [94].
Liu et al. [94] carried out an experimental study on different and this phenomenon reduces protonic transport resistance in the
types of flow field channels in order to determine their effect on cell membrane [101e103].
performance using the geometries shown in Fig. 6 and concluded There are three possible forms in which water could be gener-
that the serpentine flow channel performed better than the other ated through electrochemical reaction. This includes water vapour,
counterpart because it help to prevent water flooding in the liquid water and water contained within the membrane as shown
channel. It also keeps good humidity in the channels of the cathode in Fig. 7.
which will avoid membrane dehydration and has acceptable The water flow of the net membrane n_ H2O;m in the cell is
pressure drop. A similar conclusion was made by Arvay et al. [95] assumed to be the arithemetic sum of two elements:
who investigated the effect of water on interdigitated and
serpentine flow field channels. n_ H2O;m ¼ n_ H20;m;backdiff n_ H20;m;osmotic (5)
Arvay et al. [95] stated that changing the active area had a less
When the net flux is from cathode to anode
effect on the interdigitated flow fields when compared to serpen-
ðn_ H20;m;backdiff > n_ H20;m;osmotic Þ then, n_ H2O;m will be positive and
tine flow field. Lim et al. [96] stated that the parallel flow field
negative if it is vice versa. In the latter instance, the effect of osmotic
shows a poor rate of water removal when compared to other flow
drag is greater than water diffusion ðn_ H20;m;backdiff < n_ H20;m;osmotic Þ.
field designs. In a similar way Shimpalee et al. [97] compared
The terms of equation (5) on the right side is explain below.
parallel, interdigitated and serpentine flow fields and they reported
that interdigitated and serpentine flow fields are better than par-
allel flow field in terms of water management due to the dead end 3.4.1. Diffusion of water
channel of the parallel design. Water back diffusion is caused due to the concentration gradient
from cathode to anode regions. Using Fick's law, mass transfer
diffusion rate is expressed as [1]:
3.4. Water transport in membrane
ccathode
wð
The transport of water in Nafion membranes is based on water dcw 1

n_ H20;m;backdiff ¼ Dw ¼ Dw dy (6)
absorption at membrane and gas diffusion layer boundary and dy tm
canode
water desorption [98]. Several models were developed for water w
transport via the membrane based on its structure. Most mem- The water content variation in cross direction can be approxi-
branes material constitute improved polyethylene with hydrogen mated by averaging. In equation (6) the diffusion coefficient of
as a replacement for fluorine. The electrolyte is supported by sul- water in the membrane is Dw [cm2s1]; water concentration in the
fonic acid group (HSO3), merged ionically, enabling the acid group membrane at anode and cathode region is cw (mol cm3);
to attract the Hþ ions. The acid group (HSO3) can be found in the perpendicular distance to the membrane is tm [cm]. ccathode and
w
chain end and this structure is referred to as an ionomer [99]. It is ccathode are water concentration in the membrane which contribute
w
feasible to vary the equivalent weight but it will have immense to the conversion of membrane water content l to mass are
influence on the transport and mechanical properties. An effective establish by:
way of improving the mechanical properties of fuel cells is by
increasing the electric weight but this might decrease the protonic rm;dry
cw ¼ l (7)
conductivity and sulfonic acid group concentration. Membranes for Mm;dry
PEM fuel cells application are currently made up of 1100 EW Nafion
because there is a good balance of protonic conductivity and me- where rm;dry is the dry membrane density[g/cm3] and Mm;dry is the
chanical properties [100]. Increase in water activity of the fuel cell dry membrane equivalent weight[g/mol].
often leads to additional water being absorbed by the membrane If no current passes across the membrane, then the ionomer
which causes the hydrophilic area of the PEM fuel cell to swell up phase water content (l) can be defined as the number of water
Fig. 7. Schematics of different mechanisms of cathode catalyst water generation. (a) water vapour generation, (b) liquid water generation, (c) membrane water generation [104].
molecules per equivalent of the polymer in membrane with water 3.4.2. Membrane water transport with sorption/desorption
vapour local activity or water liquid present in the pores of catalyst From the previous model, it is assumed that water in the con-
layer. Zawodzinski et al. [105] measured water content in a mem- tacting fluid phase and water in membrane are in equilibrium.
brane, which is found from the following equation: Studies have shown that water activity in the contacting fluid and
membrane phase are likely not to be in equilibrium. Combined with

lequi;i ¼ 0:043 þ 17:81ai 39:85a2i þ 36:0a3i ; 0 ai 1 i other transport resistances, this will limit water transport across
14 þ 1:4ðai 1Þ ; 0 < ai 1 the membrane and this depends on the operating conditions [107].
A non-equilibrium model for water transport can be expressed as
¼ anode; cathode
[108]:
(8)
Water activity of the membrane is found to be:
n_ H20;m ¼ n_ H20;m;osmotic n_ H20;m;backdiff
r
¼ m fk lequi;m lm (13)
yw;i pi Pw;i EWm
ai ¼ ¼ i ¼ anode; cathode (9)
Psat;i Psat;i
where EWm [grams of polymer mole of sulphonic acid groups] is
am is the water activity of the membrane mean value between ionomer equivalent weight and rm [kgm-3] is density of dry ion-
the water activity of the anode and the cathode. omer (see Tables 1 and 3). Table 2 also captures other investigations
The diffusion coefficient of water is obtained using a revised on water management in fuel cells.
Arrhenius equation derived from experimental measurements and
depends on temperature and water content as: 3.4.3. Water sorption/desorption
!! Water sorption and desorption at the GDL/membrane interface
1 1 is function of the equilibrium offset, where lads:side
eq ldes:side are
Dw ¼ Dl $exp 2416$ (10) the real water content in the ionomer phase and the eqillirium is
303 Tfuel cell
the number at equilibrium as defined by Ref. [109].
Equation (6) was originally correlated using experimental
measurement between 30 C and 80 C using the Nafion electrolyte.
rm abs:side abs:side
n_ H20;m ¼ fKa leq l (14a)
Dl is the diffusion coefficient and depends on membrane hydration. EWm
8 rm
106
des:side des:side
>
> ; lm < 2 n_ H20;m ¼ fKd l leq (14b)
< 6 EWm
10 ð1 þ 2ðlm 2ÞÞ ; 2 lm 3
Dl ¼ (11)
>
> 106 ð3 þ 1:67ðlm 3ÞÞ ; 3 lm 4:5 A side of the membrane is either in absorption or desorption
:
1:25 106 ; lm 4:5 mode and this depends on the direction of net membrane water
flux ½n_ H20;m . The set of equations is also applied for anode and
Dutta et al. [106] reported that water contents in the membrane cathode regions. Ka and Kd account for the mass transfer co-
(Nafion) and water diffusion coefficients vary from one another efficients for absorption and desorption. f is the surface roughness
significantly. factor which is introduced in equations (10a) and (10b) to account
The water transport from the anode to cathode side (EOD) can for the difference in a particular surface area, if various types of
be defined as: ionomer loading is used in the catalyst layer. lads:side and ldes:side are
eq eq
the water content values at equilibrium. Ka and Kd [1/S] are the
i
n_ H20;m;osmotic ¼ nd (12) kinetic absorption and desorption coefficients describing the
F operating conditions of non-equilibrium membrane water uptake.
which is defined as the amount of water molecules conveyed by
1 1
one of the proton [mol sec1 cm2], F [C mol1], is Faraday constant kd=a ¼ ad=a $f v;An=Ca $exp 2416 (15)
To Tstk
and i [Acm2] is current density of the fuel cell.
It is noticed consistently that if liquid water is in equilibrium To is the reference temperature [110].
with membranes, then EOD will be larger but if membrane are in Kinetic absorption and desorption water coefficients as well as
equilibrium with water vapour, EOD will be smaller. EOD coefficient chemical diffusion coefficient are proportional to water volume
is likely to increase with temperature. fraction in the membrane f v: (Transport in polymer-electrolyte
Table 1
Major mechanisms of water transport in PEM fuel cell.
Mechanisms Descriptions References
Thermal-osmotic drag(TOD) Caused by differences in temperature across the membrane. [33e35]

Electro-osmotic drag (EOD) The process where water molecules are dragged by protons through the membrane. [38e40]
Back diffusion (BD) Water transport as result of the excess water generated at the cathode region which diffuses back to the anode region. [45,46]
Hydraulic permeation (HP) Water transport due to the pressure gradient between the anode and cathode regions. [51]
membranes.) and could be given with Arrhenius temperature dif- Hussaini and Wang [127] conducted a visualization study of
ference depending on the following equation: liquid water flooding in the flow field channels of the cathode side
" # using different range of current densities, humidification and
Vw stoichiometry that are similar to the one experienced in an auto-
f v;An=Ca ¼ lAn=Ca (16)
Vmem þ lAn=Ca $Vw motive environment. Some of the conclusions from the study are
that in operating conditions with a low stoichiometry and low
where V w is the partial molar volume of water [18 cm3/mol] and current densities at any humidity level, the fuel cells are more
partial molar volume of Nafion is V mem [cm3/mol] which is defined vulnerable to severe flooding occurring in any of the operating
as: conditions they considered. In addition, they noticed that the actual
water distribution was different from one experiment to another
EWmem and from one channel to another, but at specific operating condi-
Vmem ¼ (17)
rmem tions liquid water was spotted in the channels. Daino et al. [128]
conducted an experiment observing GDL cross section by visual-
ising it using a digital microscope at a higher magnification in
which the small droplets were seen to be condensing. Water
4. Visualising liquid water in PEM fuel cells droplets were observed to have developed at the GDL across the
section at a current density of 0.4 Acm2. The video recorded was
There is no established reliable predictive process to know when processed to detect the locations and condensate quantity. Fig. 10
and where flooding is taking place because there are various factors shows the actual image), water detection locations image and
such as feed stream humidity, temperature and pressure of the fuel water detection with GDL cross section. The results shows that
cell that affect water transportation in the various components of water droplets and transportation on GDL cross-section can be
the PEM fuel cell [121]. However, there has been extensive research detected with the use of digital microscope.
on diagnostic and detection tools for water flooding including Ous and Arcoumanis [129] investigated water build up at the
direct visualization, neutron imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance anode and cathode regions of serpentine flow field channels at
and X-ray imaging. different operating conditions using direct visualization techniques
to examine the water droplets and slugs made in the flow channels.
4.1. Direct visualization Hydrogen stoichiometry, air stoichiometry, electric load and cell
temperature were studied in order to assess the formation and
These methods involve the use of a transparent cell plate that extraction of water out of the flow channels. The outcome shows
permits visual access to the channels by optical devices such as that both hydrogen and oxygen stoichiometry do contribute to
high-speed cameras, digital camcorder, CCD camera and infrared water accumulation at cathode flow field channels.
detection devices. It is used directly in observing the operational
conditions effects on water droplets growth, formation and 4.2. Neutron imaging
movement [122].
Ge and Wang [123] employed direct visualization to investigate The neutron imaging technique was the only diagnostic tool
water drops formation at anode flow channels to examine hydro- recognized by Ballard to give all the three requirements (minimal
phobic and hydrophilic GDL. It was observe that at low current invasiveness, in-situ applicability and ability to give local infor-
density in hydrophobic GDL water tends to condense on the mation) in water management [130]. The concepts of using neutron
channel while in hydrophilic GDL condensed water stores up and imaging techniques in the fuel cell is based on hydrogen ability to
blocks the channels. Furthermore, Weng et al. [124] studied the scatter neutrons creating specific finger prints for hydrogen con-
various effects of stoichiometry of the gas concentration and hu- sisting components like water [131]. Researchers have been using
midification at the cathode. They observed that as the stoichiom- these techniques to carry out experiments in-situ for the non-
etry of humidified oxygen increases, the cell performances destructive analysis of PEM fuel cells [132,133]. Hickner et al.
increases. Spernjak et al. [125] experimentally examined water [115] used neutron imagining experiment to study water content at
formation and transport by directly visualising it on various GDL different operation conditions. They recorded that as temperature
materials for the removal of water from PEMFC and they concluded increases, this result into decrease in water content because of the
from their experimental results that the untreated GDL did not evaporation of liquid water at a higher temperature.
push water to the membrane and pores. Fuel cell industry is showing keen interest in neutron imaging
Aslam et al. [126] used thermal and digital cameras to view the techniques for visualization of fuel cells due to the usefulness of the
relationship between temperature and liquid water within the cell technique in investigating water distribution of an operating PEM
at the cathode side by using a transparent PEM fuel cell as shown in fuel cell [134]. The technique is able to visualise water location in
Fig. 8. Aslam et al. [126] observed that as the air flow rate increases, different flow fields during fuel cell operation. Neutron imaging
the temperature distribution through the electrolyte of the cathode techniques are also considered as useful tool to optimise the
region becomes non uniform, as a result of the liquid water seen in operating conditions and flow field in order to increase the effi-
the flow field channels (Fig. 9) causing a reduced efficiency of heat ciency of the fuel cell. Owejan et al. [135] investigated interdigi-
dissipation. tated flow field channel within a PEM fuel cell using neutron
Table 2
Some Studies on different approaches conducted to understand water flooding and management in PEM fuel cell.
Author Study Methods Results Conclusions Reference
P.K. Bhattacharya Water flooding in PEMFC. Water uptake in the membrane The result show from the Water management strategies [111]
was investigated experimentally polarization curves that as the needs to be considered when
and a model was used to validate current densities is increased, designing a fuel cell in order to
the result using COSMOL more liquid water was produced obtain an optimum cell
multiphysics. The simulation results follow performance.
almost the same trend.
Li et al. A flow channel design procedure The channel cross section of The reactant forced water out of The modification of the [112]
for PEM fuel cells with effective serpentine design was modified the system when the pressure serpentine channel and proper
water removal. and characterised. drop was increased. pressure drop helped in
preventing flooding in the
channels.
Qi and Kaufman Improvement of water Different material of sublayers of The 35% perform better than the Micro-porous layer with the right [113]
management by a microporous microporous layer containing others, which helps in enhancing percentage of PTFE contributes to
sublayer for PEM fuel cells. 24, 35 and 45% microporous gas diffusion layer to manage a proper water management.
layer of various thickness water effectively.
between carbon paper and
catalyst layer were assessed
Liu et al. Water flooding and pressure Different conventional flow field The interdigitated and cascade At low temperatures, liquid water [114]
drop characteristics in flow channels used including performed better in liquid water concentration is high in flow
channels of proton exchange interdigitated, cascade and removal than parallel channels channels than at high
membrane fuel cells. parallel flow field during cell operation which helps temperatures. If there is liquid
to prevent flooding. water in channels, increasing flow
rate may force water out of the
cell.
Hickner et al. Real-Time Imaging of Liquid Neutron imaging techniques They observed that as cell They concluded that cell [115]

Water in an Operating Proton were used to measure the extent temperature increases from 40 C temperature and heat do affect

Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell. of water content in the cell when to 80 C, the liquid water amount liquid water content in the cell.
varying temperature. reduced over time.
Liu et al. Experimental Study and A graphite plate PEM fuel cell The results showed that Serpentine flow field channel do [94]
Comparison of Various Designs stack was fabricated. Different serpentine flow channels optimise water management in
of Gas Flow Fields to PEM Fuel flow field channels were used to performed better because of a the cell better than the other flow
Cells and Cell Stack Performance. conduct the experiments. reasonable pressure drop and channels.
prevented water flooding better
than the other designs.
Jithesh et al. The effect of flow distributors on Parallel, serpentine and mixed The mixed flow field channel Flow field channels design have [116]
the liquid water distribution and flow field channels were tends to perform better in terms effect on water management in
performance of a PEM fuel cell. modelled and stimulated of water removal, effective water PEM fuel cell.
numerically. distribution and good membrane
hydration.
Su et al. Studies on flooding in PEM fuel An experiment was conducted They observed that serpentine- The serpentine-interdigitated [117]
cell cathode channels. using serpentine and serpentine- interdigitated flow field performs flow field design
interdigitated flow field channels better for water removal than Is more effective for water
to study flooding occurrence and serpentine because the pressure removal than serpentine alone.
the results were compared. in upstream helps to push the
water down to the downstream
channels.
Bozorgnezhad The experimental study of water A transparent stack was used for It was seen that liquid water was They concluded that the elbows of [118]
et al. management in the cathode direct visualization and accumulated at the elbow of the the channel are important for a
channel of single-serpentine experiments were performed channels. water management.
transparent proton exchange with several operating
membrane fuel cell by direct parameters.
visualization.
Lee and Bae Visualization of flooding in a A transparent thin gold plate and They observed water droplets at Water droplets and slugs were [119]
single cell and stacks by using a polycarbonate plate is (one plate the ribs and elbows in both anode formed from condensation in the
newly-designed transparent or two different plates?) and cathode side of channels cell.
PEMFC. substitute with graphite bi-polar which later turned to water slugs
plate. in the anode side of flow channels
but not at cathode side due to flow
rate effects.
Wang and Zhou Liquid water flooding process in A computational fluid dynamics Liquid water was observed in the It was concluded that the [120]
proton exchange membrane fuel (CFD) was used to numerically channels, which comes from the channels do influence water
cell cathode with straight simulate the process. porous layer. flooding in cathode side and
parallel channels and porous water accumulation begins from
layer. the zones in porous layer
imaging techniques to observe water accumulation at the cathode 4.3. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI)
region and the reported liquid water accumulation at the GDL. The
neutron imaging techniques could be used to check the distribution NMRI, also known as magnetic resonance imaging, is able to
of water which is helpful for proper water management in PEM fuel visualise water in opaque structures and there have been successful
cell [136,137]. experiments carried out using this technique for the in-situ mea-
surement of the distribution of liquid water in an operating fuel
Table 3
Common methods of visualising liquid water in PEM fuel cells.
Methods Enlightenments References
Direct visualization It is used directly in observing the operational conditions and their effects on water droplet growth, formation and movements. [122]
Neutron imaging This method in fuel cell was established on the sensitive reaction of neutron to hydrogen consisting of compounds like water. [131]
Nuclear magnetic This method is useful in measurement of in-situ for the distribution of water in operating fuel cells. [138]
resonance imaging
X-ray This method is attenuation of synchrotron and non- synchrotron which have demonstrated that they could be used for the studies [143,144]
of water management in PEM fuel cell.
[143,144]. Mankel et al. [145] investigated the behaviour of water

transport in a PEM fuel cell during its operation along with some
plane resolution using x-ray imaging techniques. The researchers
looked at the viability of using synchrotron radiation in observing
the accumulation of liquid water across the cross section of the fuel
cell. Mankel et al. [145] detected that at higher current, there was
build-up of water at both anode and cathode regions close to the
MPL and channel ribs. Lee et al. [146] used this technique to
determine the thickness of water by attenuation of x-ray conven-
tional source using x-ray camera and tube.
It was stated [Lee et al. [146]] that coupled device (CCD) camera
is useful in acquiring direct X-ray images. A picture of X-ray im-
aging system is shown in Fig. 11.
Lee et al. [146] observed the rays attenuation is linear with
respect to the thickness. Markotter et al. [147] investigated water
distribution in PEM fuel cell in order to visualise water transport by
means of x-ray imaging technique which has the ability of
Fig. 8. A transparent PEM fuel cell [126]. achieving a spatial resolution of 3e7 mm. Markotter et al. [147]
observed that water was accumulated and discharged from the
cells in which water could be spotted in the gas channels and land pores. The water distribution was uniform which indicates that the
areas [138]. NMRI is both non-invasive and non-destructive tech- water was in continuous flow and the eruptive transport adds
nique which is useful in the observation of the properties of water water droplets from the GDL to the channels. To obtain clearer
transport inside the membrane of PEMFC [139]. Feindel et al. [140] images using this technique, a compact imaging system was
investigated co-flow and counter-flow configuration using NMR developed using medical X-ray tube which functions as the source
microscopy and their result shows that co-flow configuration of light.
dehydrated at the PEM fuel cell inlets while counter flow distrib- Kuhn et al. [117] also studied high temperature PEMFC appli-
uted water uniformly in the fuel cell. Dunbar and Masel [141] used cations using synchroton x-ray imaging techniques to give an
NMRI techniques to measure quantitative 3D water distributions in insight of electrolyte concentration and distribution. Their research
a fuel cell that is in operation. Dunbar and Masel [141] observed showed that important data such as humidification degree, medi-
that at the cathode water was generated because of oxygen ation utilisation and temperature can be obtained from the elec-
reduction reaction (ORR) and is first transported across the GDL trolyte concentration and distribution. This technique has several
before forming a big drop at the surface of the GDL. potentials and can be employed in investigating water movement
Tsushima et al. [142] developed NMRI techniques to study liquid within a PEM fuel cell. However, there are challenges in achieving
water that is supplied directly to the membrane of the fuel cell. progress in using high temporal and spatial resolution in capturing
They noticed that direct water supply to the membrane increased liquid water droplets in the GDL [148].
the cell voltage due to the low membrane resistance.
5. Ways that could prevent water flooding in PEM fuel cell
4.4. X-ray imaging
5.1. Operating temperature
The X-ray imaging techniques have demonstrated that they can
be used for the study of water management in PEM fuel cell In PEM fuel cell, mainly temperature and pressure determine if
Fig. 9. Images of the wetted area in the flow field channel [126].
Fig. 10. Direct visualization of water on the cathode GDL cross-section (a) original image (b) water detection locations and (c) water detection with GDL [128].
the polarization curves they observed that the cell performance

increases as temperature increased from 20 C to 40 C then
became constant between 40 C and 50 C before decresing as the
temperature increased further. In terms of voltages, the increase in
the cell performance between 20 C to 40 C was due to the in-
crease in gas diffusivity and conductivity of membrane. Thus, as the
gas diffusivity increases, the cell performance increases. The drop in
cell performance above 50 C is due to the increased rate of water
evaporation as temperature is increased. As there is more water
evaporation than water production by the electrochemical reaction,
the membrane starts to dehydrate and dry out leading to poor cell
performance. However, with increased the humidification of the
cell temperature increase from 20 C to 60 C improves the overall
performance of the cell [150].
Wang et al. reported that if the cell operating temperature is
Fig. 11. An X-ray imaging system for a fuel cell experiments: (a) X-ray tube (b) fuel cell
components and (c) X-ray CCD camera [146]. higher than the temperature necessary for the fuel to be properly
humidified, the cell will dehydrate and the cell performance will
degrade [151]. Ozen et al. [152] considered the effects of operating
the water present is liquid or vapour and at higher temperatures temperature on cell performance and kept the humidification level
vaporisation will intensify. Due to surface tension of liquid water for anode and cathode regions equivalent to those desired at 70 C
being strong, water vapour is much easier to be removed from the then varied the cell temperature from 50 C to 80 C. The cell per-
cell than liquid water. Liu et al. [149] investigated water flooding formance increases up to 70 C which was attributed to reduction
and two phase flow of reactants and products in cathode flow field of activation losses. The cell performance dropped at 80 C, which
channels using a transparent PEM fuel cells and they concluded was higher than the maintained humidification temperature due to
that when the cell is operating at low temperature there is a higher dryness in the membrane.
tendency of liquid water to accumulate in flow field channels than Natarajan and Nguyen [153] concluded that in order to avoid
at high temperature. Formation of water columns is inevitable at loss of cell performance, as a result of membrane dryness, anode
low temperature due to water accumulation in the flow field humidification temperature must be increased if cell temperature
channels. This water accumulation can hinder mass transport and increases.
reduce the catalyst area available for the electrochemical reaction.
High temperature operation results in lower water accumulation in
the flow channels and water vapour is removed from the cell before 5.2. Operating pressure
condensation occurs.
M.Perez and V. Perez [150] carried out experiments with various A fuel cell performance can be improved by increasing the
fuel cell temperatures in a humidified 300 W fuel cell stack oper- pressure. If there is any water accumulation in the cell, increase in
ated on dead end mode andexperiments were performed in the pressure will cause the reactant to force the water to flow. Kerkoub
20 Ce60 C temperature range. M.Perez and V. Perez by studying et al. [154] conducted experiments on the effect of pressure gra-
dients between the electrodes and investigated their effect using
various parameters on water management within a PEM fuel cell.

Kerkoub et al. [154] noticed that when the pressure was increased
the cell performance increased. They also noted that at the anode
side, and due to the increase in pressure gradient, the membrane
begins to dry out and as a result of this the protonic membrane
conductivity begin to reduce overtime and causes decrease in cell
performance. Santarelli and Torchio [155] investigated the effect of
operating pressure on water distribution of a PEM fuel cell and used
backpressure to adjusting the operating pressure. Santarelli and
Torchio [155] varied the reactant inlet pressure from 1.0 bar to
3.1 bar and they observed that when the pressure increases the cell
performance increases and this was due to the increased flow rate
of reactants.
Amirinejad et al. [156] experimentally studied the effect of
operating pressure between 1 atm and 3 atm within a PEM fuel cell
of an open circuit voltage and they noticed an increase in cell
performance as the pressure increased according to Nernst equa-
tion. The increment was due to the increase of reactant gases flow
and diffusivity which helped improve water management of the Fig. 12. Open pore metal foam.
cell and reduced mass transport resistance.
5.3. Replacing conventional flow field channels with open pore cellular metal foam flow field and velocity disturbances were at
metal foam minimal due to its high porosity.
Tabbi et al. [29] carried out a computational fluid dynamic
In conventional flow field channels the presence of ribs, chan- modelling study to investigate the characteristics of flow field
nels and dead end mode where liquid water could accumulate may channels and compared serpentine flow field channels and open
result in a non-uniform distribution of reactants and water flooding cellular metal foam flow. They concluded from their results that
is distinct possibility. Open pore metal foam is being seen as a liquid water accumulation is likely to occur in the serpentine flow
substitute to conventional gas flow fields of fuel cells due to the channels due to the dead end zone which will prevent some re-
absence of ribs, channels and dead ends which could reduce or actants from reaching the MEA, while this can be avoided using
solve the issue of water flooding in the fuel cell. Open cell metal open cellular metal foam flow which will improve the general fuel
foam, as shown in Fig. 12, possess a high efficient thermal con- cell performance.
ductivity, porosity up to 99%, high specific surface area of almost Carton and Olabi [162] conducted an experiment for double flow
10,000 m2 m3 and a random flow path which helps the reactant field channel and developed a 3D computational fluid flow dy-
reach the catalyst surface to enable the electro-chemical reaction namic model for metal foam and compared the results for a PEM
[157]. fuel cells. The results point out that there was water accumulation
Su et al. [158] conducted an experiment using different con- in the ribs of the double flow channels which has the potential to
ventional flow fields channels in PEM fuel cell such as parallel, lead to local water flooding. In the metal foam water is distributed
interdigitated, serpentine flow fields. In the parallel flow field uniformly and water accumulation is minimal which will prevent
flooding starts to happen once liquid water appears in the central water flooding.
channels. Water will continue to accumulate until the channels
eventually become blocked. For the interdigitated flow field,
flooding occurs mostly in the downstream channels than the up- 5.4. Micro porous layer (MPL) within the cell
stream channels. While in the serpentine flow fields it was notice
that the corners of the channels are more prone to flooding than the Microporous layer help in reducing liquid water saturation from
upstream and downstream channels. Yang et al. [159] studied the CCL to the flow channel across the GDL of the cathode [163,164].
characteristics of fuel cell performance at dead ended anode using MPL can hinder the water condensate from moving from the
three various flow fields by measuring the local current densities channels or GDL back to the catalyst layer. Again, they provide
and fuel cell voltages operating modes and they concluded that the electrical contact between catalyst layer and GDL, and reduces the
parallel flow and interdigitated flow field water accumulation is quick dry out of the membrane at low humidity [165,166]. The
very high which leads to water flooding but in the serpentine flow importance of MPL is obvious mostly at higher current state which
field water accumulation is less. shows that it improves mass transfer. MPL have a way of distrib-
Tseng et al. [160] replaced the conventional flow field channels uting liquid water favourably for gas phase transport in the cell
with open porous metal foam in PEMFC and the results obtained by [167].
them showed that using metal foam as flow distributor offers Kim et al. [168] investigated micro-porous layer (MPL) assembly
exceptional mass transport properties and better convective gas in PEM fuel cell as a function of elctrochemical losses and investi-
flow with minimum flow resistance than the conventional flow gated the use of MPL at cathode only, both sides of the electrodes
channels. and without MPL. It was seen that the cells with MPL on cathode
Baroutaji et al. [161] conducted a Computational Fluid Dynamic side and at both sides performed better because it helps force the
(CFD) analysis between a serpentine flow plates and open pore liquid water out of the cell, aid back diffusion and reduces gas
cellular metal foam flow field. They observed that there was a large diffusion layer liquid saturation at high current densities. The EIS
pressure drops in serpentine flow field plates because of the ve- response comparison shows that the addition of MPL in the cells
locity disturbances at the ribs which affect the reactant flow, and reduces charge transfer resistance, mass transport resistance and
there were low velocity flows in the channel edges and dead end ohmic resistance when compared without MPL in the cell. They
mode. In contrast, there was low-pressure drop in the open pore concluded that MPL helps manage water in a PEM fuel cell.
Chen et al. [169] conducted similar experiment as mentioned

earlier and they concluded that the use of MPL reduces water loss to
flow field channels and complement back diffusion which help in
membrane hydration.
Blanco and Wilkinson [170] studied the effect of microporous
layer on water management using novel diagnostic method in PEM
fuel cell. They conducted an experiment with the use of cathode
MPL and without MPL in the cell. The test conducted indicated that
the MPL ameliorate the cell performance as a result of water
saturation in the CCL which leads to improved oxygen diffusion and
increases back diffusion as shown in Fig. 13. It was also seen that
anode pressure drop increases with the use of MPL than without
MPL.
Deevanhxay et al. [171] studied the effect of water in gas
diffusion media (GDM) with and without MPL on cell performance.
Deevanhxay et al. [171] concluded that liquid water was found on
the CL and GDM of the cell without MPL which had a critical effect
on the overall cell performance. However, there was reduced water
accumulation on the CL and GDM surface of the cell with MPL
Fig. 14. (a) GDM without MPL (b) GDM with MPL [171].
which result in a better cell performace. Fig. 14 shows GDM without
MPL and with MPL. Pasaogullari and Wang [172] experimental re-
sults also confirm that using MPL in the cell enhances the removal
membrane hydration, and increased mass transport resistance
of liquid water and prevent the water from covering the active area
[175,176]. Chen et al. [177] studied various PTFE coatings on GDL to
of the catalyst surface for electrochemical reaction. Tseng and Lo
see tthe effect on cell performance. The contact angle measurement
[173] investigated the effects of MPL on water management and cell
for the hydrophobic GDL material of different PTFE content was
performance by using a commercial 25 cm2 catalyst coated mem-
made by using a digital microscope of high resolution. It was seen
brane along with a MPL and GDL in the single fuel cell assembly.
that the higher the PTFE content in GDL material, the higher is the
Tseng and Lo [173] concluded from their experiment that the use of
liquid water droplet contact angle as shown in Fig. 15. This means
MPL increases the cell performance, especially at high current
that the hydrophobicity of GDL material increases with increase in
density because the mass transfer limitation was eliminated.
the contents of PTFE. The hydrophobicity of the GDL material is
good for water management because it helps remove liquid water
from the cell.
5.5. Enhancing the hydrophobicity of gas diffusion layer (GDL)
A similar experiment was performed by Kakaee et al. [178].
Their results show that PTFE coated GDL helped in the removal of
Several research findings shows that the coating of GDL with a
liquid water which avoid water flooding of the GDL. Chen et al.
hydrophobic agent like fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) or
[179] employed PTFE to treat the surface of GDL so as to study the
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) help in facilitating the removal of
water behaviour in a PEM fuel cell. Their findings show that un-
liquid water from the cell [174]. The untreated GDL hold more water
coated GDL get wet easily than the treated GDL especially at low
due to its hydrophilic nature when compared to coated GDL and
operating conditions.
this result in more susceptibility to water flooding in the GDL or
Fig. 13. Schematic water transport of (a) with MPL (b) without MPL [170].
Fig. 15. Liquid water droplet contact angle (a- PTFE 0 wt%, b-PTFE 10 10 wt%, c- PTFE 20 wt%) [177].
Chan and Wang [180] investigated the effect of different volume prevent the fuel cell becoming flooded. Stagnation of water in the
of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) coating varying from 10 to fuel cell implies that a portion of the membrane electrode assembly
40 wt % on the GDL. It was noticed that the 10 wt % FEP treated GDL will not participate in reaction hence reducing the current density
performed better due to a better hydrophobic surface and it facil- being generated from the fuel cell [183]. Subin et al. [184] also
itated water removal, while the others FEP content over 10 wt% conducted several experiments on fuel cell performance at varying
blocked the GDL surface pores which caused mass transport limi- operational conditions. From Fig. 18, it is observed that the fuel cell
tations. In another experiment Hasanpour et al. [181] compared a performance increases appreciably between cell operating tem-
woven GDL and a coated woven GDL with FEP. Their results show peratures of 45 Ce50 C. When the fuel cell is operated at cell
that liquid water flow is higher in FEP coated GDL than the operating temperature of 45 C, the performance is reduced at low
uncoated. current densities. This is because the electrochemical kinetics at
this cell operating temperature is poor. The performance of the fuel
5.6. Effect of water management on characteristics performance of cell at higher current density is observed to be better at cell oper-
PEM fuel cell ating temperature of 45 C compared to that of 50 C. At 50 C, there
is decrease in fuel cell performance at high current density due to
An investigation conducted by a group of researchers in Re- many factors. The researchers argued that flooding, dehydration of
public of Korea showed that the performance of a fuel cell was the membrane electrode assembly and reactant starvation, all
subject to the moisture content in the membrane at varying oper- directly related to water management in the fuel cell, were some of
ating conditions [182]. The outcome of their investigation captured the reason for this fuel cell characteristics.
in Fig. 16 and Fig. 17 explains the performance of the fuel cell at The voltage generated from the fuel cell is significantly affected
100% relative humidity and 50% relative humidity. by membrane dehydration especially when the cell operating
The findings indicate the key role water management plays in temperature keeps increasing [185]. Atlower cell operating tem-
terms of the overall characteristic performance of the fuel cell. It is perature, there is condensation of water which eventually accu-
imperative that the water produced at the cathode catalyst layer is mulates leading to flooding in the fuel cell. When the current
eliminated particularly at high humidification conditions to density is kept constant at varying cell operating temperature (in
Fig. 16. Polarization curves of fuel cell performance at 100% humidification conditions Fig. 17. Polarization curves of fuel cell performance at 50% humidification conditions
[182]. [182].
this case 45 Ce50 C), the water produced will be same for all
operating conditions. Again, the rate of reactant that will go into
reaction will also be high for both conditions since rate of reaction
increases with temperature. Water accumulation in the cell also
increased between 45 C and 50 C at high current densities. This
indicates that there is an optimum cell operating temperature
which can reduce condensation of water and rapid evaporation of
water. This will help reduce water flooding and membrane dehy-
dration which will reduce the overall performance of the fuel cell. Li
et al. [26] used cathodic pressure drop of PEM fuel cell to determine
the water management characteristics in a fuel cell. They explained
that regulating the fuel cell temperature, inlet pressure and the
inlet relative humidity were strategies to effectively regulate the
water management characteristics in a fuel cell. Electrochemical
impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to determine the amount
of water in the cell. There was no flooding after the fuel cell was
regulated using the three (3) strategies presented by Li et al. [26].
Fig. 18. Performance of a fuel cell at varying cell temperature [184]. Increasing the pressure at the inlet by 25 kPa helped the voltage to
recover 25 mV and this stabilized the performance of the fuel cell.
Increasing the temperature by 2 K also caused an 8 mV to be
Fig. 19. Characteristics of a fuel cell pressure drop and voltage during flooding in the cell [186].
Fig. 20. Regulation of fuel cell temperature to enhance the water management a) Varying pressure drop, voltage and cell operating temperature during water management [134].
Fig. 21. Comparing the voltage obtained for regulating the cell temperature with respect to water management [26].
recovered as well, maintaining the performance of the fuel cell. The varying pressure drop and voltage during flooding conditions in the
range of recovery reduced when the inlet relative humidity was cell.
used as a strategy to maintain the water management character- Li et al. [26] presented Fig. 20 to demonstrate water manage-
istics in the fuel cell. For most commercialized fuel cell facilities, a ment using the cathodic pressure drop strategy through the regu-
change in the inlet pressure is one acceptable mean of reducing lation of the fuel cell temperature. They argued that there is a
flooding in the fuel cell. Fig. 19 shows the fuel cell characteristics at steady water state in the fuel cell where the pressure drop for two
Fig. 22. Water management control strategy using cathodic pressure drop a) Varying pressure drop, voltage and cell inlet pressure during water management b) EIS results ob-
tained at specific cell operating times c) Curve fit for results generated in b [26].
phase flow and voltage becomes stable for a longer period. The the fuel cell voltage and the purple line shows the cell operating
pressure drop can therefore be used as a reference point for con- temperature b) EIS results obtained at specific cell operating times
trolling the water management in the cell [135]. Li et al. [26] c) Curve fit for results generated in b [26]. Fig. 21 also explains the
deduced further that should the real pressure drop exceeds the change of voltage with respect to time at varying cell operating
theoretical line, the water in the fuel cell will increase and the fuel conditions.
cell is likely to become flooded. The operating temperature of the Changing the inlet pressure and relative humidity is also
fuel cell at these operating conditions is increased to help evaporate captured in Fig. 22 and Fig. 23 in a manner similar to changing the
excess water from the cell. The pressure drop from Fig. 20a shows cell temperature. There is a significant improvement in the voltage
that the pressure drop has exceeded the theoretical line by 3 times value for all these conditions because voltages did not exhibit
hence the temperature increased by three. The temperature was frequent variations and less drop in performance was experienced
increased by 2 K for the first two scenarios and 4 K for the third compared to the flooded operation mode. Increasing the inlet
case. The pressure drop reduced as the temperature increased. pressure caused the three step downs in the graph in Fig. 23. The
From Fig. 20c, it is observed that there is apparently no direct impedance also decreases whenever the inlet pressure goes up.
link between high frequency resistance and flooding. It can be Fig. 24 shows the voltages generated varying with the water
observed that the low frequency resistance is directly affected by management conditions mentioned earlier. In comparison with a
the amount of water. The low frequency resistance increases from fuel cell operated under normal conditions, the results obtained
EIS sweep 1 to EIS sweep 2. The low frequency resistance then using the three strategies did not indicated any sign of voltage drop.
decreases afterwards when the fuel cell heats up. It implies that The three strategies can help curb flooding in a fuel cell and in-
there was change in the amount of water as the temperature was crease the running time for a fuel cell at varying operating
being regulated. condition.
Fig. 20 shows a marginal increase in voltage as the temperature
increased. If this control strategy was not applied, the fuel cell was
likely to become flooded reducing the voltage during the 3 h that 6. Conclusions
the experiment was conducted. Fig. 20 also shows voltage obtained
at various water management conditions. The commercialisation and the wide use of fuel cells technology
The redline in Fig. 20 also indicates the theoretical pressure is not only dependent on cost, and their efficiency and longevity
drop, blue line shows the actual pressure drop, the green line shows will be deciding factors in their successful adoption.
With water being the major by-product of electro-chemical
Fig. 23. Water management control strategy using cathodic pressure drop a) Varying pressure drop, voltage and cell inlet relative humidity during water management b) EIS results
obtained at specific cell operating times c) Curve fit for results generated in b [26].
Fig. 24. Voltage comparison for different water regulation strategy [26].
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Energy 179 (2019) 246e267

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy efﬁciency improvements by investigating the water ﬂooding

Fig. 2. Mechanism of water transport in PEM fuel cell.

time for a single cell at a stable current density of 1 A cm2. As the

3.3. Impact on ﬂow ﬁeld channels

The transport of water in Naﬁon membranes is based on water dcw 1

Mechanisms Descriptions References

Thermal-osmotic drag(TOD) Caused by differences in temperature across the membrane. [33e35]

Author Study Methods Results Conclusions Reference

Methods Enlightenments References

[143,144]. Mankel et al. [145] investigated the behaviour of water

the polarization curves they observed that the cell performance

various parameters on water management within a PEM fuel cell.

Chen et al. [169] conducted similar experiment as mentioned

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