Performance Evaluation of a Regenerative Blower for Hydrogen Recirculation Application in Fuel Cell Vehicles Available to Purchase

Regenerative blowers are used for hydrogen gas recirculation application in fuel cell vehicles. In this paper we discuss the performance of theoretical models that describe the complex three dimensional flows in regenerative blowers. A one-dimensional performance prediction code is developed based on theoretical models and loss models. Numerical calculation is also performed using a commercial CFD code to analyze the three dimensional flows in a regenerative blower. The results of numerical analysis are used to evaluate the performance of the designed blower and improve the accuracy of performance prediction by correcting the loss models. The results of performance predictions are compared with measured data of a prototype regenerative blower to validate the one-dimensional performance prediction method.