Two-dimensional modeling of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with long flow channel. Part I. Model development

Bao, Cheng; Bessler, Wolfgang G.

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2014.11.058

Cited by 48 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 75 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…In other words, the input of liquid water during the ignitions shifts the minimum membrane water content away from the divergence region around mem th , resulting in a far more homogenous current density distribution. As a final remark, it should be noted that the current density in the dry region facing the cathode inlet may be further reduced in the lowperformance state by the drop of the cathode reaction rate, c , when the electrochemical activity of solvated protons is small [25,94].…”

Section: Numerical Results (Baseline Case)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydration and dehydration cycles in polymer electrolyte fuel cells operated with wet anode and dry cathode feed: A neutron imaging and modeling study

García-Salaberri

Sánchez

Boillat

et al. 2017

Journal of Power Sources

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Proper water management plays an essential role in the performance and durability of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs), but it is challenged by the variety of water transport phenomena that take place in these devices. Previous experimental work has shown the existence of fluctuations between low and high current density levels in PEFCs operated with wet hydrogen and dry air feed. The alternation between both performance states is accompanied by strong changes in the high frequency resistance suggesting a cyclic hydration and dehydration of the membrane. This peculiar scenario is examined here considering liquid water distributions from neutron imaging and predictions from a 3D two-phase nonisothermal model. The results show that the hydration-dehydration cycles are triggered by the periodic condensation and shedding of liquid water at the anode inlet. The liquid water input humidifies the anode channel and offsets the membrane dry-out induced by the dry cathode stream, thus leading to the high-performance state. When liquid water is flushed out of the anode channel, the dehydration process takes over, and the cell comes back to the lowperformance state. The predicted amplitude of the current oscillations grows with decreasing hydrogen and increasing air flow rates, in agreement with previous experimental data.

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Section: Numerical Results (Baseline Case)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mathematical Model + = /2.5 if < 2.5, + = 1 if ≥ 2.5. The decrease of + affects the cathode reaction rate when the membrane is significantly dry, further reducing the output current density [25,94].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydration and dehydration cycles in polymer electrolyte fuel cells operated with wet anode and dry cathode feed: A neutron imaging and modeling study

García-Salaberri

Sánchez

Boillat

et al. 2017

Journal of Power Sources

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“…in contact with liquid water [30] To avoid the discontinuous jump when the membrane comes into contact with liquid water, a sigmoid function of the following form is used 80 :…”

Section: Mathematical Model Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computationally Efficient Pseudo-2D Non-Isothermal Modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells with Two-Phase Phenomena

Goshtasbi

Pence

Ersal

2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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In this article, a computationally efficient pseudo-2D model for real-time dynamic simulations of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is developed with a specific focus on water and thermal management. The model accounts for temperature dynamics, two-phase flow and flooding in the diffusion media, and membrane water crossover as well as absorption and desorption processes. Computational efficiency is achieved by leveraging the disparate time scales within the system dynamics, in addition to exploiting the large aspect ratio of the cell layers to create a spatio-temporal decoupling. Taking advantage of such decoupling, the model yields a computationally efficient solution while providing detailed information about the state of water and temperature throughout the cell. Through this approach, the current implementation of the model is found to be about twice faster than real time. Moreover, a case study is carried out where different mechanisms contributing to overall water balance in the cell are investigated. The results are shown to be in qualitative agreement with published experimental data, thereby providing a preliminary validation of the modeling approach. Finally, using the modeling results, an equivalent electrical circuit model is proposed to help elucidate water transport inside various cell layers. Real-time estimation, prediction, and control of cell hydration and temperature distribution is essential for optimizing the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), as well as avoiding critical conditions and mitigating cell degradation. These applications necessitate mathematical models that not only run in real time, but also incorporate the important physical phenomena related to water transport and thermal management. However, including such phenomena comes at the cost of higher computational requirements, resulting in a trade-off between model accuracy and computational speed, which must be carefully balanced based on the desired application. As a result of these competing requirements, developing mathematical models that achieve a balance between the needs for high fidelity and low computational demand remains an active area of research.Within the context of this paper, a fuel cell model is considered to have high fidelity if it incorporates the following phenomena: i) 3-D effects including anisotropic material properties 1-3 to resolve transport phenomena in all physical directions; ii) transient behavior; iii) detailed multistep hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics; 4,5 iv) multiphase flow in gas channels and porous media; v) non-isothermal effects; 6 and vi) multicomponent diffusion.7,8 A more detailed explanation of these considerations follows.In terms of dimensionality, 3-D models are of highest fidelity, because they are capable of capturing transport in both through-themembrane and along-the-channel directions and also account for the channel-land effects in the third dimension. Moreover, these models can easily in...

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“…Bao and Bessler [96] built up a two-dimensional single-phase model for the steadystate and transient analysis of PEM fuel cells. Viscous flow is conducted into a multi-component model in the membrane according to diluted and concentrated solution theories.…”

Section: Flow Field Orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells

2016

Applied Energy

359

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Two-dimensional modeling of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with long flow channel. Part I. Model development

Cited by 48 publications

References 75 publications

Hydration and dehydration cycles in polymer electrolyte fuel cells operated with wet anode and dry cathode feed: A neutron imaging and modeling study

Hydration and dehydration cycles in polymer electrolyte fuel cells operated with wet anode and dry cathode feed: A neutron imaging and modeling study

Computationally Efficient Pseudo-2D Non-Isothermal Modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells with Two-Phase Phenomena

A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells

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