Thermal and electrical experimental characterization of Ethylene Glycol and water mixture nanofluids for a 400w Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Nanofluid is an emerging technology in heat transfer study. The effect of nanofluids as a cooling medium in liquid cooled Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is studied. Nanofluids with 0.1% and 0.5% volume concentration of Al₂O₃ are dispersed in base fluid of 50:50 mixture of Ethylene Glycol and water were analyzed experimentally. A rated power of 400 W liquid cooled PEMFC was used to verify the findings. The result showed that insignificant improvement in performance of PEMFC with nanofluids through polarization curve findings, perhaps due to the lower wattage of PEMFC used. The advantage of nanofluids utilization in PEMFC might be visible in higher wattage of PEMFC due to higher working fluid temperature. Higher thermal conductivity of nanofluid at higher temperature is expected to give advantage in terms of polarization curve of a PEMFC. However, the thermal performance is improved through the heat transfer rate increment of 68.5 % and 46 % for both 0.5 % of Al₂O₃ nanofluid and 0.1 % of Al₂O₃ nanofluid respectively.