Numerical investigation of the effect of cathode catalyst layer structure and composition on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance

Kamarajugadda, Sai; Mazumder, Sandip

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2008.05.072

Cited by 102 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 43 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Because of computer power limitation, we only took a part of the image for simulation. Since the FIB/SEM tomography cannot distinguish the ionomer coating and the agglomerate, we hence numerically coated a thin ionomer film over the agglomerate surface based on the ratio between the average agglomerate size and the thickness of the ionomer film as reported in the literature (Kamarajugadda and Mazumder, 2008). After the ionomer coating, the volumetric fraction of the macropores is 30% to be consistent with the value reported in the literature .…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 75%

Reliability of the spherical agglomerate models for catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Zhang

Ostadi

Jiang

et al. 2014

Electrochimica Acta

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 75%

Reliability of the spherical agglomerate models for catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Zhang

Ostadi

Jiang

et al. 2014

Electrochimica Acta

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Although they showed that their base case had enough accuracy to be used in a PEM fuel cell modeling, their grid independence study did not answer the question that whether it was possible to nd a model case with less control volume as compared to that of the base case with enough accuracy. Kamarajugadda and Mazumder 23,24 developed two computational uid dynamics models of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell to investigate water management within the membrane and the effect of the cathode catalyst layer structure and composition. The grid independence study was carried out in two cases.…”

Section: 3mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the computational fluid dynamics of PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs): an investigation on mesh independence analysis

2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mesh independence analysis is one of the most crucial steps in any CFD problem. The aim of this study was to investigate the most commonly used variables employed for grid independency studies in a typical PEMFC and to find possibly the most effective variables that may be decisive in a PEMFC grid independence test. Herein, a three-dimensional (3-D), steady state, non-isothermal computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of a serpentine channel proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was developed. The present model includes various conservation equations that are dominant in a typical PEMFC: the mass, momentum, species, charge, and energy equations, which are coupled with the electrochemical model. The numerical results indicate that much more care should be taken while obtaining a mesh independence solution for CFD studies in PEMFC systems. Based on our findings in this study, it was demonstrated that employment of merely the polarization curve (current-voltage), especially only in a given specific point, was not sufficient to carry out the mesh independence tests for CFD studies in PEMFCs. In addition, it was observed that the average volumetric hydrogen concentration inside the catalyst layer on the anode side has a more significant role to check the grid independency tests.

show abstract

“…Others 50 keep the layer thickness constant and varied the Pt loading and the macroporosity. It will be shown later, that thickness cannot be calculated from the most commonly applied 11,51-55 formula:…”

Section: Journal Of the Electrochemical Societymentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Full Layer Pore-Scale Model for the Simulation of Electro-Active Material Used in Power Sources

Kriston

Pfrang

Popov

et al. 2014

J. Electrochem. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A general pore-scale model was developed which mimics the electro-active layer formation process. The model was used to simulate the active material loading on battery, fuel cell and supercapacitor electrodes. The active layer was reconstructed by coating 10 8 particles with different interparticle interactions onto a smooth surface. Instead of simulating each generated layers at macro scale, scaling analysis was applied to reduce the complexity of the system. It was shown, that the generated layers belong to the same universality class and can be normalized by a self-affine transformation. The non-linear scaling function, obtained at mesoscale, was incorporated into the macrohomogeneous model to simulate the impact of ultra-low Pt loading on specific activity of fuel cells and of thickness of supercapacitors layers on volumetric capacitance. The analysis of experimental data and modeling results revealed that (measurable) specific activity and volumetric capacitance increase at ultra-low loading, because the surface area in unit volume (or porosity) and the thickness scale differently with loading. Finally a general relationship was proposed, which describes the evolution of volumetric surface area density of fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitor with loading, and can be used to build a bridge between mesoscale morphology and macroscopic simulation. Electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, such as batteries, fuel cells and supercapacitors are key enabling technologies to store electricity, in a form of chemical energy, for an electric vehicle with desirable driving range and power.1 Even if state-of-the-art electrochemical storage devices can provide enough stored electricity, the cost of zero emission vehicles (battery, and fuel cell vehicles) is still too high for widespread application. Helou and Brodd 2 analyzed the cost structure of battery production and found that at mass production level the cost of active materials used is 50-60% of the total cost per battery cell. In fuel cells only one component, the Pt catalyst, is responsible for ca. 35% of the total cost of the stack.3 The limited stock of Pt is another bottleneck 4 to cost reduction. Consequently, the reduction of active material loading is a requirement to meet market expectations for all systems. The development of higher capacity Li materials with nano-sized particles 5,6 and more active and extended surface area electrocatalysts for fuel cells 4,7,8 can pave the way for reducing material costs. Numerical modeling is one of the most prospective techniques to find the optimal electrode structure to accommodate lower material loading.In spite of the different nature of fuel cells, batteries and supercapacitors, very similar models are used to study and optimize their performance. The most widely used simulation method is the macrohomogeneous model, 9,10 because it can predict the macroscopic behavior of a fuel cell stack, 11,12 a battery cell 13,14 and a supercapacitor. 15,16 It does not describe however, the exact geometric det...

show abstract

Numerical investigation of the effect of cathode catalyst layer structure and composition on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance

Cited by 102 publications

References 43 publications

Reliability of the spherical agglomerate models for catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Reliability of the spherical agglomerate models for catalyst layer in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

On the computational fluid dynamics of PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs): an investigation on mesh independence analysis

Development of a Full Layer Pore-Scale Model for the Simulation of Electro-Active Material Used in Power Sources

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About