Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of hybrid Al₂O₃-SiO₂ / Muyassarah Syahirah Mohd Yatim …[et al.]

The emergence of Proton Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is seen as one of the greener alternatives to internal combustion engine (ICE) in automotive industry nowadays. However, the sensitivity of a PEMFC membrane needs to be further improved for the optimum performance. In this study, single and hybrid nanofluids are used as an alternative coolant in a single channel of PEMFC. The study was conducted in a channel with the adoption of single and hybrid nanofluids to observe the effect of the heat transfer and pressure drop in the set up. A heater pad was kept at constant heat load of 100 W, reflecting the actual heat load of a single cell. The study focuses on 0.5% volume concentration for single and hybrid nanofluids of Al2O3 and SiO2 in water. The numerical study was conducted via ANSYS FLUENT 16.0. The 0.5% hybrid Al2O3:SiO2 nanofluids of 10:90 and 30:70 in Re range of 300 to 1000 were compared to the base fluid. The heat transfer increament of 9.1% and 9.85%. was observed. However, the pressure drop was also increased in the range of 22 Pa to 26 Pa for 0.5 % of Al2O3:SiO2 of 10:90 and 30:70 consecutively as compared to the base fluid. The advantage ratio was then analyzed to show the feasibility of both ratios of 0.5 % hybrid nanofluid of Al2O3:SiO2 at 10:90 and 30:70. It shows that both have advantage ratio higher than 1, thus feasible for the adoption in a PEMFC.