Investigation of Water and Heat Transfer Mechanism in PEMFCs Based on a Two-Phase Non-Isothermal Model

Dapeng Gong, Sichuan Xu and Yuan Gao ()
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Dapeng Gong: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Sichuan Xu: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Yuan Gao: School of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: In a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system, proper management of water and heat transport is essential to improve its overall performance and durability. To comprehensively investigate the internal processes of PEMFCs, an improved two-phase non-isothermal model based on heat and water transfer mechanisms inside the fuel cell is developed. The results show that the model proposed in this work can predict the fuel cell’s performance accurately and is capable of exploring water and heat transfer phenomena inside fuel cells. Additionally, the water and heat transfer of cathodes and anodes under different relative humidity and temperatures are studied. It can be concluded that when the PEMFC operates under a constant voltage, the anode water content gradually increases, while the cathode water content gradually decreases. The maximum water content occurs at the interface between cathode catalyst layer and cathode gas diffusion layer, while the minimum value is attained at the interface between anode catalyst layer and anode gas diffusion layer. When the fuel cell operates at 0.75 V, although the water content of CCL is the highest, no back-diffusion of dissolved water occurs.

Keywords: proton exchange membrane fuel cell; one-dimensional model; two-phase; water content; water saturation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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