Experimental and modeling study on water dynamic transport of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell under transient air flow and load change

Water management is important in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operations, especially for those cells based on sulfonic acid polymers due to the depending of the conductivity on water. This paper aims at illustrating the effect of the change in membrane water content on cell potenti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of power sources 2010-10, Vol.195 (19), p.6629-6636
Main Authors: Qu, Shuguo, Li, Xiaojin, Ke, Changchun, Shao, Zhi-Gang, Yi, Baolian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air flow
Applied sciences
Computation
Direct energy conversion and energy accumulation
Dynamics
Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering
Electrical power engineering
Electrochemical conversion: primary and secondary batteries, fuel cells
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc
Exact sciences and technology
Fuel cells
Load change
Mathematical models
Membranes
Moisture content
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell
Relative humidity
Transient air flow change
Transient response
Water transport
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Summary:Water management is important in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operations, especially for those cells based on sulfonic acid polymers due to the depending of the conductivity on water. This paper aims at illustrating the effect of the change in membrane water content on cell potential response. For this purpose, the cell potential response has been investigated experimentally and computationally under transient air flow and load change of a PEMFC. From the experimental and computational results, an undershoot behavior of cell potential as well as the great influence of the relative humidity on the magnitude of undershoot is observed. It is found that the magnitude of cell potential undershoot increases as the relative humidity decreases. By carrying out a transient simulation on the water content of the membrane, the undershoot phenomena could be well explained. It is also found from the computational prediction that the time scale for the cell potential to reach its steady state is about 20 s, in agreement with experimental results. The model prediction also suggests that the dynamic behavior of PEMFC is critically dependent on the water content in the membrane.
ISSN:0378-7753
1873-2755
DOI:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2010.04.029