A single-phase, non-isothermal model for PEM fuel cells

Temperature Distributions in Single Cell of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Simulated by an 1D Multi-plate Heat-Transfer Model and a 3D Numerical Simulation Model

“…ranging from 2 °C to 3 °C was reported under the condition that T ini was 80 °C, the relative humidity of supply gas was 100% RH, and the cell voltage was 0.2 V. Compared with the above previous studies conducted under the similar operation conditions [36][37][38], it is obvious that, T react -T ini calculated by the 1D multi-plate heat-transfer model in this study as well as by the 3D model are correct. The temperature gradients from the reaction surface to the separator's back obtained by the 1D multi-plate heat-transfer model range approximately from 1 °C to 8 °C, while those obtained by the previous studies [13][14][15][36][37][38] range approximately from 1 °C to 11 °C.…”

“…The temperature gradients from the reaction surface to the separator's back obtained by the 1D multi-plate heat-transfer model range approximately from 1 °C to 8 °C, while those obtained by the previous studies [13][14][15][36][37][38] range approximately from 1 °C to 11 °C. Consequently, the simple 1D multi-plate heat-transfer model proposed by this study is effective for prediction of temperature distribution on the reaction surface.…”

“…Though the 1D multi-plate heat-transfer model proposed by this study treats the heat-transfer phenomena in the cell of PEFC simpler, the model can predict the temperature distribution on the reaction surface on equal terms with the 3D model solving many governing equations on the coupling phenomena in a cell of PEFC. According to the previous 2D numerical simulation study, considering the heat generation and depletion by reversible/irreversible heat release, ohmic heating and phase change of water [36], T react -T ini ranging from 1 °C to 6 °C was reported under the condition that T ini was 70 °C, the relative humidity of supply gas was 100% RH, and the cell voltage ranged from 0.30 V to 0.70 V. In addition, from the other 3D numerical simulation study accounting for various heat generation mechanisms including irreversible heat due to electrochemical reactions, entropic heat and Joule heating arising from the electrolyte ionic resistance [37], T react -T ini ranging from 2 °C to 11 °C was reported under the condition that T ini was 70 °C, the relative humidity of supply gas at anode was 75% RH, the relative humidity of supply gas at cathode was 0% RH, and the cell voltage was 0.6 V. Moreover, according to the experimental study measuring the PEM temperature by temperature sensor [38], T react -T ini…”

Improved modeling and understanding of diffusion-media wettability on polymer-electrolyte-fuel-cell performance

“…The origin of these profiles is due to the complex nature of both the material heterogeneities as well as phenomena such as phase-change-induced (PCI) flow where water moves due to phase transitions. For example, water evaporating and condensing along a temperature gradient can have a large impact on the cell performance [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59], or similarly, during shutdown in a cold-environment, water is predicted and shown to move due to freezing [60][61][62]. Thus, a valuable and predictive macroscopic model must be able to handle changes in the chemical and physical DM structure along with the various dominant transport phenomena.…”

Large scale model predictions on the effect of GDL thermal conductivity and porosity on PEM fuel cell performance

“…Currently various numerical models of PEMFC are available in the published literature covering the transport phenomena and electrochemical kinetics [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21]. To analyze the performance of PEMFC at different operating conditions and design configurations various simulations have been produced but very few provide analysis of full GDL on large-scale model.…”