Engineering model for coupling an electro--osmotic fuel micropump with a miniature direct methanol fuel cell

This paper presents a theoretical study of an active fuel delivery system for a miniature liquid feed direct methanol fuel cell using an electro{osmotic micro pump. A higher methanol owrate, with the help of a pump in an active system, generally can improve performance. In the process of the study, approximate expressions for pressure drop and fuel owrate at the anode of the direct methanol fuel cell using a steady state model that considers conservation of mass, momentum and species together with the electro- kinetics, are derived. This model is used to illustrate the favorable scaling of EO pumps with direct methanol fuel cells for methanol delivery.

Keywords:

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell , Electro{osmotic , Micro Pump , Fuel Cell Model