On the influence of temperature on PEM fuel cell operation

• Published in: Journal of power sources Vol. 159; no. 1; pp. 560 - 569
• Main Authors: Coppo, M., Siegel, N.P., Spakovsky, M.R. von
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lausanne Elsevier B.V 13.09.2006; Elsevier Sequoia
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Fuel cells; Mathematical model; PEM fuel cell; Temperature effect; GDP; PEMFC; GFC; MEA; Temperature effect; Mathematical model; CCL; GDL; PEM fuel cell; Experimental test; Gaseous diffusion; Polymer electrolytes; Computational fluid dynamics; Physical properties; Geometry; Transport process; Three dimensional model; Gas flow; Performance; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells; Catalyst
• ISSN: 0378-7753; 1873-2755
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2005.09.069

The 3D implementation of a previously developed 2D PEMFC model [N.P. Siegel, M.W. Ellis, D.J. Nelson, M.R. von Spakovsky, A two-dimensional computational model of a PEMFC with liquid water transport, J. Power Sources 128 (2) (2004) 173–184; N.P. Siegel, M.W. Ellis, D.J. Nelson, M.R. von Spakovsky, Single domain PEMFC model based on agglomerate catalyst geometry, J. Power Sources 115 (2003) 81–89] has been used to analyze the various pathways by which temperature affects the operation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell [M. Coppo, CFD analysis and experimental investigation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, Ph.D. Dissertation, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy, 2005]. The original model, implemented in a specially modified version of CFDesign ® [CFDesign ® V5.1, Blue Ridge Numerics, 2003] , accounts for all of the major transport processes including: (i) a three-phase model for water transport in the liquid, vapor and dissolved phases, (ii) proton transport, (iii) gaseous species transport and reaction, (iv) an agglomerate model for the catalyst layers and (v) gas phase momentum transport. Since the details of it have been published earlier [N.P. Siegel, M.W. Ellis, D.J. Nelson, M.R. von Spakovsky, A two-dimensional computational model of a PEMFC with liquid water transport, J. Power Sources 128 (2) (2004) 173–184; N.P. Siegel, M.W. Ellis, D.J. Nelson, M.R. von Spakovsky, Single domain PEMFC model based on agglomerate catalyst geometry, J. Power Sources 115 (2003) 81–89; N.P. Siegel, Development and validation of a computational model for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell, Ph.D. Dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 2003], only new features are briefly discussed in the present work. In particular, the model has been extended in order to account for the temperature dependence of all of the physical properties involved in the model formulation. Moreover, a novel model has been developed to describe liquid water removal from the gas diffusion layer (GDL) surface by advection due to the interaction of the water droplets and the gas stream in the gas flow channels (GFC). The complete cell model has been validated against experimentally measured polarization curves, showing good accuracy in reproducing cell performance over a wide range of operating temperatures and making it possible to use the model to study the effect of temperature-dependent parameter variations on cell performance. An important conclusion of the study found that both liquid water transport within the GDL and liquid water removal from the surface of the GDL play a crucial role in determining variations in cell performance with temperature.