Performance analysis of PEM fuel cells cathode catalyst layer at various operating conditions

Abstract In this study, a performance analysis of the Cathode Catalyst Layer (CL) of a Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is investigated under various operating temperature, pressure and saturation levels. Recently, we performed a parametric study of the cathode catalyst layer structural parameters on the performance of a PEM fuel cell, in which the cell operating conditions were taken fixed. The catalyst layer has been computed using a macro-homogenous model. Same model has been used here and influences of the operating conditions such as temperature, pressure and saturation degrees are considered. Amongst the operating parameters affecting the CL performance, the saturation level(s) is the most influencing parameter. Computations show that reduction of s from 75 to 25%, improves the CL performance by 30%. The mathematical model assumes homogeneous and steady-state conditions, and consists of equations that include the effects of oxygen diffusion, electrochemical reaction rates, and transport of protons and electrons through the ionomer (polymer electrolyte) and solid phases. The CL consists of four phases: ionomer, solid substrate, catalyst particles and void spaces. The void spaces are assumed to be either fully flooded by liquid water, partially flooded or un-flooded at all. Computations show excellent agreement with the literature.

[1]  Afzal Suleman,et al.  Multi-variable optimization of PEMFC cathodes using an agglomerate model , 2007 .

[2]  M. Kermani,et al.  Performance enhancement of fuel cells using bipolar plate duct indentations , 2013 .

[3]  Frano Barbir,et al.  PEM Fuel Cells: Theory and Practice , 2012 .

[4]  K. Scott,et al.  Numerical investigation of the optimal Nafion® ionomer content in cathode catalyst layer: An agglomerate two-phase flow modelling , 2014 .

[5]  Xianguo Li,et al.  Modelling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells with variable degrees of water flooding , 2000 .

[6]  M. Fesanghary,et al.  A study of the agglomerate catalyst layer for the cathode side of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Modeling and optimization , 2012 .

[7]  Suresh G. Advani,et al.  An Improved Agglomerate Model for the PEM Catalyst Layer with Accurate Effective Surface Area Calculation Based on the Sphere-Packing Approach , 2014 .

[8]  Xianguo Li,et al.  Composition and performance modelling of catalyst layer in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell , 1999 .

[9]  Viktor Hacker,et al.  Theoretical study of the influence of material parameters on the performance of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell , 2015 .

[10]  R. Schweiss,et al.  Mitigation of Water Management in PEM Fuel Cell Cathodes by Hydrophilic Wicking Microporous Layers , 2010 .

[11]  Edson A. Ticianelli,et al.  Methods to Advance Technology of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells , 1988 .

[12]  R. C. Weast.  Handbook of chemistry and physics , 1973 .

[13]  Curtis F. Gerald.  Applied numerical analysis , 1970 .

[14]  Peiwen Li,et al.  Optimization of PEM fuel cell flow channel dimensions—Mathematic modeling analysis and experimental verification , 2013 .

[15]  A. Weber,et al.  Analysis of Oxygen-Transport Diffusion Resistance in Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cells , 2011 .

[16]  Charles W. Tobias,et al.  On the Conductivity of Dispersions , 1959 .

[17]  Mark W. Verbrugge,et al.  A Mathematical Model of the Solid‐Polymer‐Electrolyte Fuel Cell , 1992 .

[18]  Xueguan Song,et al.  Numerical analysis of the optimum membrane/ionomer water content of PEMFCs: The interaction of Nafion® ionomer content and cathode relative humidity , 2015 .

[19]  Keith Scott,et al.  A two-phase flow and non-isothermal agglomerate model for a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell , 2014 .

[20]  R. A. Aziz,et al.  Empirical Equations to Calculate 16 of the Transport Collision Integrals Ω(l, s)* for the Lennard‐Jones (12–6) Potential , 1972 .

[21]  Hongtan Liu,et al.  A parametric study of the cathode catalyst layer of PEM fuel cells using a pseudo-homogeneous model , 2001 .

[22]  John Newman,et al.  Maximum Effective Capacity in An Ohmically Limited Porous-Electrode , 1975 .

[23]  C. Du,et al.  Parametric study of a novel cathode catalyst layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cells , 2006 .

[24]  M. Verbrugge,et al.  Mathematical model of a gas diffusion electrode bonded to a polymer electrolyte , 1991 .

[25]  R. Reid,et al.  The Properties of Gases and Liquids , 1977 .

[26]  P. Sinha,et al.  The Impact of Platinum Loading on Oxygen Transport Resistance , 2012 .

[27]  James Seaba,et al.  Modeling and Optimization of a PEMFC Catalyst Layer , 1999 .

[28]  Suresh G. Advani,et al.  Investigation of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell catalyst layer with bidirectionally-graded composition , 2014 .

[29]  A. Weber,et al.  Understanding Impacts of Catalyst-Layer Thickness on Fuel-Cell Performance via Mathematical Modeling , 2016 .

[30]  D. Wilkinson,et al.  A critical review of two-phase flow in gas flow channels of proton exchange membrane fuel cells , 2010 .

[31]  M. Moein-Jahromi,et al.  Performance prediction of PEM fuel cell cathode catalyst layer using agglomerate model , 2012 .

[32]  Ramin Roshandel,et al.  Effects of catalyst loading gradient in catalyst layers on performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells , 2013 .

[33]  A. Parthasarathy,et al.  Temperature Dependence of the Electrode Kinetics of Oxygen Reduction at the Platinum/Nafion® Interface—A Microelectrode Investigation , 1992 .

[34]  G. Molaeimanesh,et al.  Agglomerate modeling of cathode catalyst layer of a PEM fuel cell by the lattice Boltzmann method , 2015 .

[35]  Wenping Cao,et al.  Multi-variable optimisation of PEMFC cathodes based on surrogate modelling , 2013 .

[36]  M. Kermani,et al.  A parametric study of cathode catalyst layer structural parameters on the performance of a PEM fuel cell , 2010 .

[37]  Ahmet Kusoglu,et al.  A Critical Review of Modeling Transport Phenomena in Polymer-Electrolyte Fuel Cells , 2014 .

[38]  Robert E. Wilson,et al.  Fundamentals of momentum, heat, and mass transfer , 1969 .

[39]  San Ping Jiang,et al.  A mathematical model of polymer electrolyte fuel cell with anode CO kinetics , 2003 .

[40]  Suresh G. Advani,et al.  Experimental investigation of in-line and staggered blockages in parallel flowfield channels of PEM fuel cells , 2016 .