Detailed Numerical Modeling of a Hybrid Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell

Abstract

Numerical modeling has been used to investigate the resistive behavior of a novel hybrid polymer electrolyte fuel cell design that utilizes a porous wicking layer to eliminate flooding. The resistance of the porous layer is shown to depend upon current and to increase nonlinearly with layer thickness. The relationship between conductivity and thickness was found to be related to the physical size of the reaction zone in the porous layer, and the scaling of the reaction zone with current was investigated. The porous layer resistance was also found to increase with temperature in most cases due to a decrease in charge carrier concentration at elevated temperatures.