Flow-field effect on reformate gas tolerance in post-doped HT-PEMFC

Todorovski, Emilija (author), Todorovski, Filip (author), Sekavčnik, Mihael (author), Mori, Mitja (author), Lotrič, Andrej (author), Andreasen, Søren Juhl (author)

High-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) are attractive for integration with methanol steam reforming, but reformate impurities strongly affect electrochemical kinetics and spatial current distribution. This study combines polarization analysis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with distribution of relaxation times (DRT), and segmented current measurements to investigate degradation under CO▫$_2$▫-CO reformate conditions. The results reveal clear flow-field-dependent mechanisms: serpentine channels show stronger low-frequency DRT contributions linked to cumulative gas-transport limitations, while parallel channels exhibit higher transport peaks but lower spatial poisoning severity. At elevated CO concentrations, voltage losses in the parallel configuration exceed those of the serpentine by ∼15%, with a ∼1.7 × increase in the fast DRT process contribution. Spatial analysis shows channel-governed degradation gradients in serpentine flow fields, whereas parallel channels exhibit preferential poisoning of initially strongest segments. Water vapor partially mitigates poisoning, improving spatial recovery to ∼0.27 A/segment.

• Language: English
• Keywords: visokotemperaturna gorivna celica s protonsko izmenjevalno membrano, obratovanje na reformnem plinu, geometrija pretočih kanalov, porazdelitev relaksacijskih časov, segmentirana porazdelitev gostote toka
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 233, art. 155095
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181975
• UDC: 544.5
• ISSN on article: 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.155095
• COBISS.SI-ID: 275940355
• Publication date in RUL: 21.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of hydrogen energy
• Publisher: Elsevier, Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC
• ISSN: 1879-3487
• COBISS.SI-ID: 23007749

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: high-temperature PEM fuel cell, reformate operation, flow-field geometry, distribution of relaxation times, DRT, spatially resolved current density

Projects

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P2-0401-2022
• Name: Energetsko strojništvo