Progress and challenges on the thermal management of electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies: Fuel cells, electrolysers, and supercapacitors

Abstract

It is now well established that electrochemical systems can optimally perform only within a narrow range of temperature. Exposure to temperatures outside this range adversely affects the performance and lifetime of these systems. As a result, thermal management is an essential consideration during the design and operation of electrochemical equipment and, can heavily influence the success of electrochemical energy technologies. Recently, significant attempts have been placed on the maturity of cooling technologies for electrochemical devices. Nonetheless, the existing reviews on the subject have been primarily focused on battery cooling. Conversely, heat transfer in other electrochemical systems commonly used for energy conversion and storage has not been subjected to critical reviews. To address this issue, the current study gives an overview of the progress and challenges on the thermal management of different electrochemical energy devices including fuel cells, electrolysers and supercapacitors. The physicochemical mechanisms of heat generation in these electrochemical devices are discussed in-depth. Physics of the heat transfer techniques, currently employed for temperature control, are then exposed and some directions for future studies are provided.