Development of a silicon-based passive gas-liquid separation system for microscale direct methanol fuel cells
by C.C. Hsieh, S.C. Yao, Yousef Alyousef
International Journal of Nanomanufacturing (IJNM), Vol. 4, No. 1/2/3/4, 2009

Abstract: The design, fabrication and performance characterisation of a passive gas-liquid separation system is presented in this paper. The gas-liquid separation system is silicon-based and its fabrication is compatible with the existing CMU design of the microscale direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). Both gas and liquid separators consist of staggered arrays of etched-through holes fabricated by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). The gas separator is coated with a thin layer of hydrophobic polymer to substantiate the gas-liquid separation. To visually characterise the system performance, the gas-liquid separation system is made on a single wafer with a glass plate bonded on the top to form a separation chamber with a narrow gap in between. Benzocyclobutene (BCB) is applied for the low-temperature bonding. The maximum pressure for the liquid leakage of the gas separators is experimentally determined and compared with the values predicted theoretically. Several successful gas-liquid separations are observed at liquid pressures between 14.2 cmH₂O and 22.7 cmH₂O, liquid flow rates between 0.705 cc/min and 1.786 cc/min, and CO₂ flow rates between 0.15160 cc/min to 0.20435 cc/min.

Online publication date: Mon, 07-Sep-2009

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