ENGINEERING BIOMIMETIC FLOW FIELDS FOR ION-EXCHANGE MEMBRANE ELECTROLYZERS AND FUEL CELLS (BIONIC-H2)

Flow fields play a key role in ion-exchange membrane electrolyzers and fuel cells. They provide several critical functions: (i) ensuring an electrical interconnection between cells, (ii) providing mechanical support to the stack, yet it must be lightweight for transportation and portable applications, (iii) distributing reactants and evacuating products, and (iv) releasing the heat generated internally from the electrochemical reactions. Many different flow fields have been proposed, among which the serpentine flow field is the most extended one. However, conventional designs many times suffer from reactant and product maldistribution, high pumping power requirements, and excessive temperature increase throughout cells and stack. As an alternative to conventional flow fields, biomimetic designs have received increasing attention due to the similarity between the functions performed by many conduit systems in nature and flow fields used in electrochemical energy devices. Bio-inspired flow fields can effectively improve the reactant distribution over the active area, enhance the removal of products, reduce parasitic losses, and homogenize the temperature at cell and stack levels. The BIONIC project aims to impulse the development of biomimetic flow fields for electrolyzers and fuel cells through the hand of numerical modeling and additive manufacturing of metals. Artificial intelligence tools will also be developed to construct surrogate models and speed up the determination of optimal solutions in a time scale relevant to industry (TRL5 prototype). Two types of designs will be examined, standard biomimetic flow fields with solid ribs, and porous biomimetic flow fields with permeable ribs. The latter approach will be accomplished by varying the spatial energy used in the fabrication process with laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF). The advanced flow-field designs developed in BIONIC are expected to significantly improve the performance and durability, providing even more homogenous operating conditions than usual biomimetic flow fields.

Partners capabilities

BIONIC is currently looking for partners with the following capabilities to complement the project and adapt the proposal to the call:

·         Experimental testing and system integration.

·         Life cycle, techno-economic and environmental impact analyses, including mass, water, land and energy consumptions aspects.

·         Barrier, opportunities, and solutions to scaling up.

·         System analysis and integration of processes in the energy system, continuity/intermittence.

·         Secure and safe storage of hydrogen, including using solid and liquid carriers.