Revealing failure modes and effect of catalyst layer properties for PEM fuel cell cold start using an agglomerate model

Liu Yang, Chenxi Cao, Quanquan Gan, Hao Pei, Qi Zhang and Ping Li

Applied Energy, 2022, vol. 312, issue C, No S0306261922002392

Abstract: We propose a dynamic model for cold start of proton exchange membrane fuel cell in account for transport, phase-change and electrochemical reactions within catalyst agglomerates. The competition between loss of in-agglomerate reactant concentrations and active electro-catalytic surface is shown to cause different failure modes dependent on start-up current densities. Critical ice fractions of failure were identified for different cathode catalyst layer (CL) thickness and ionomer to carbon ratios (I/C) at 0.4 A cm−2. In contrast to thicker CLs that uplift the critical ice fraction, larger I/Cs decrease the CL porosity and agglomerate pore size, thus significantly reducing the critical ice fraction. Moreover, by utilizing the electro-osmotic drag effect, slightly thickening anode CLs provides effective internal heat source during cold start at high current densities with minimal impact on the nominal cell performance.

Keywords: PEM fuel cell; Mathematical modeling; Cold start; Catalyst agglomerates; Failure mechanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118792

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