An Effective Force-Temperature-Humidity Coupled Modeling for PEMFC Performance Parameter Matching by Using CFD and FEA Co-Simulation

Zhiming Zhang, Sai Wu, Kunpeng Li, Jiaming Zhou, Caizhi Zhang, Guofeng Wang and Tong Zhang
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Zhiming Zhang: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Sai Wu: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Kunpeng Li: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China
Jiaming Zhou: School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Weifang University of Science and Technology, Weifang 262700, China
Caizhi Zhang: College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Guofeng Wang: School of Information Science and Electrical Engineering, Shandong Jiaotong University, Jinan 250357, China
Tong Zhang: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 201804, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-18

Abstract: High-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) vehicles are important for realizing carbon neutrality in transportation. However, the optimal power density of the fuel cell performance is difficult to achieve due to the internal complex operating conditions of a fuel cell stack. Moreover, there is a lack of effective models to solve the coupled multi-physical fields (force, temperature and humidity, etc.) in the PEMFC, particularly considering the gas diffusion layer (GDL) compression. Thus, a force-temperature-humidity coupled modeling method is introduced to evaluate the effects of key operating conditions for the fuel cell performance parameter matching. Firstly, the interfacial contact resistance and GDL porosity are obtained by a force-temperature coupled simulation using a finite element analysis (FEA) modeling, then the obtained results are introduced into a temperature-humidity coupled simulation using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. An iteration algorithm is proposed to realize the force-temperature-humidity coupled simulation for the PEMFC performance. The main characteristics of the PEMFC performance parameters are revealed and the optimum matching criteria of the main performance parameters (temperature, stoichiometric ratio and relative humidity) are determined. The presented co-simulation method is significant and effective for realizing the PEMFC performance parameter matching condition, and it provides a design direction for an optimal power density of a fuel cell stack.

Keywords: PEMFC; multi-fields coupled model; GDL deformation; CFD; FEA; performance parameter matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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