Reduced dimensional computational models of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stacks

Chang, Paul; Kim, Gwang-Soo; Promislow, Keith; Wetton, Brian

doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2006.10.011

Cited by 39 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…As such, the terminology "pseudo-2D" is often used to describe 1 + 1D unit-cell models. The simplicity of 1 + 1D unit-cell models allowed describing coupling between different unit cells, leading to stack model [15][16][17]. In the present study we develop a model that considers local, two-dimensional crosssections together with the transport along the channel.…”

Section: Reduced-dimensional Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced-dimensional models for straight-channel proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Kim

Sui

Shah

2010

Journal of Power Sources

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a b s t r a c tA comprehensive description of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance includes the transport phenomena, phase change and electrochemical reaction inside the several components, which possess disparate characteristics and together form a complex three-dimensional geometry. Much of the modelling work in this area has, therefore, relied on the techniques of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The comprehensive three-dimensional (3D) approach can, however, be prohibitively time consuming. Consequently, it is not the ideal basis for a rapid screening tool that operates under a wide range of design options and operating conditions. Mathematical models and solution procedures using simplified models with reduced dimensions have been proposed to address this issue. Such approaches are computationally efficient, but no systematic study has been conducted to qualitatively or quantitatively assess the impact of the neglected dimensionality on the accuracy of the resulting model. In this paper, we compare results from a hierarchy of reduced-dimensional models to the results from a comprehensive 3D CFD model for a single, straight-channel unit cell. The quality of the simulation results from reduced-dimensional models, including the cell voltage and the distributions of current density and relative humidity, are assessed. We demonstrate that the 2 + 1D approach, which includes mass transport in the 2D cross-section of the channel and membrane electrode assembly and integrates along the flow channel, is optimal in terms of both efficiency and accuracy. It provides a sound basis for a simulation tool that can be used in the early stages of a unit-cell design cycle.

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Section: Reduced-dimensional Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reduced-dimensional models for straight-channel proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Kim

Sui

Shah

2010

Journal of Power Sources

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“…In the limit of very small CL thickness this dependency vanishes and the function of current density reduces to Equation (51). The assumption of negligibly thin CL is typically made by the reduced dimensionality models, e.g., [28,31,32], it is made by the benchmarking CFD model and thus also used in the HAN-FC model. However, the function defining the current density in the HAN-FC model can easily be extended to account also for the effects of non-negligibly thick CL: instead of Equation (51) an equation for current density as a function of not only Φ, and but also Λ , as derived for example in [37], can be used.…”

Section: Electrochemical Reaction Kineticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, using Equations (23), (31) and (32), the coupling between GDL#1 and channel domain requires that:…”

Section: Coupling Of General Solutions In Domainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To compensate for this discrepancy some models employ additional correction parameters, obtained through fitting results of full 3D CFD models or experimental data, yielding pseudo 3D models (e.g., [31,32] and Sherwood number adjusted 2D model in [29]). An alternative to this pseudo 3D modelling is the so called 2D + 1D approach (as found in [29]) where the physical phenomena are fully addressed in the plane perpendicular to the gas flow and the reduced treatment of the 1D + 1D approach is used in the direction of gas flow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The principles of HAN-ST modelling in [32] are presented on a theoretical straight channel co-flow fuel cell of very simple geometry and its core principle can be summarized as: Figure 1. Schematic breakdown of fuel cell geometry onto elementary units for HAN-FC computation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Innovative Hybrid 3D Analytic-Numerical Approach for System Level Modelling of PEM Fuel Cells

Tavčar

Katrašnik

2013

Energies

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Abstract:The PEM fuel cell model presented in this paper is based on modelling species transport and coupling electrochemical reactions to species transport in an innovative way. Species transport is modelled by obtaining a 2D analytic solution for species concentration distribution in the plane perpendicular to the gas-flow and coupling consecutive 2D solutions by means of a 1D numerical gas-flow model. The 2D solution is devised on a jigsaw puzzle of multiple coupled domains which enables the modelling of parallel straight channel fuel cells with realistic geometries. Electrochemical and other nonlinear phenomena are coupled to the species transport by a routine that uses derivative approximation with prediction-iteration. A hybrid 3D analytic-numerical fuel cell model of a laboratory test fuel cell is presented and evaluated against a professional 3D computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation tool. This comparative evaluation shows very good agreement between results of the presented model and those of the CFD simulation. Furthermore, high accuracy results are achieved at computational times short enough to be suitable for system level simulations. This computational efficiency is owed to the semi-analytic nature of its species transport modelling and to the efficient computational coupling of electrochemical kinetics and species transport.

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Modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells and Stacks

Wang

Chen

2012

Fuel Cell Science and Engineering

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Reduced dimensional computational models of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stacks

Cited by 39 publications

References 33 publications

Reduced-dimensional models for straight-channel proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Reduced-dimensional models for straight-channel proton exchange membrane fuel cells

An Innovative Hybrid 3D Analytic-Numerical Approach for System Level Modelling of PEM Fuel Cells

Modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells and Stacks

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