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Water transport through a PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell in a seven-layer model

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  • Rakhshanpouri, S.
  • Rowshanzamir, S.

Abstract

The most critical problems to overcome in the PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell technology are the water management. In this work, a seven-layer theoretical model is proposed that includes anode and cathode inlet channels, anode and cathode GDLs (gas diffusion layers), CLs (catalyst layers), and the 117 Nation proton exchange membrane. The mathematical model is a one-dimensional, steady-state, isothermal and isobar to describe the water transport phenomena in PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell). A rationally chosen set of parameters are considered such as the humidity and the stoichiometry of the inlet gases, the porosity of GDL, and the membrane thickness. The results show that with sufficient levels of humidity, the water management would improve for larger porosities of GDLs or a thinner membrane, and the resistance and over voltage of the membrane can be reduced significantly as well. This model will help to select system parameters so that the fuel cell would not suffer from dehydration and flooding. Also, model predictions were successfully compared to theoretical I–V polarization curves presented by Chen et al. (2007) and Springer et al. (1991).

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  • Rakhshanpouri, S. & Rowshanzamir, S., 2013. "Water transport through a PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell in a seven-layer model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 220-231.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:50:y:2013:i:c:p:220-231
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2012.10.053
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    7. Sayadi, Parvin & Rowshanzamir, Soosan & Parnian, Mohammad Javad, 2016. "Study of hydrogen crossover and proton conductivity of self-humidifying nanocomposite proton exchange membrane based on sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 292-303.
    8. Akira Nishimura & Kyohei Toyoda & Yuya Kojima & Syogo Ito & Eric Hu, 2021. "Numerical Simulation on Impacts of Thickness of Nafion Series Membranes and Relative Humidity on PEMFC Operated at 363 K and 373 K," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-24, December.
    9. Díaz, Manuel Antonio & Iranzo, Alfredo & Rosa, Felipe & Isorna, Fernando & López, Eduardo & Bolivar, Juan Pedro, 2015. "Effect of carbon dioxide on the contamination of low temperature and high temperature PEM (polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cells. Influence of temperature, relative humidity and analysis of regener," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P1), pages 299-309.
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    13. Rahnavard, Aylin & Rowshanzamir, Soosan & Parnian, Mohammad Javad & Amirkhanlou, Gholam Reza, 2015. "The effect of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) as the electrode ionomer for self-humidifying nanocomposite proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 746-757.
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    15. Pourrahmani, Hossein & Van herle, Jan, 2022. "Water management of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Optimizing the effect of microstructural properties on the gas diffusion layer liquid removal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    16. Ismail, M.S. & Ingham, D.B. & Ma, L. & Hughes, K.J. & Pourkashanian, M., 2017. "Effects of catalyst agglomerate shape in polymer electrolyte fuel cells investigated by a multi-scale modelling framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 420-430.
    17. Lee, Chi-Hung & Chen, Szu-Hsien & Wang, Yen-Zen & Lin, Chao-Chien & Huang, Chih-Kai & Chuang, Ching-Nan & Wang, Chih-Kuang & Hsieh, Kuo-Huang, 2013. "Preparation and characterization of proton exchange membranes based on semi-interpenetrating sulfonated poly(imide-siloxane)/epoxy polymer networks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 905-915.
    18. Huang, Zhen-Ming & Su, Ay & Liu, Ying-Chieh, 2014. "Development and testing of a hybrid system with a sub-kW open-cathode type PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 547-553.
    19. Blal, Mohamed & Benatiallah, Ali & NeÇaibia, Ammar & Lachtar, Salah & Sahouane, Nordine & Belasri, Ahmed, 2019. "Contribution and investigation to compare models parameters of (PEMFC), comprehensives review of fuel cell models and their degradation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 182-199.
    20. Hu, Junming & Li, Jianqiu & Xu, Liangfei & Huang, Fusen & Ouyang, Minggao, 2016. "Analytical calculation and evaluation of water transport through a proton exchange membrane fuel cell based on a one-dimensional model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 869-883.
    21. Yin, Cong & Gao, Jianlong & Wen, Xuhui & Xie, Guangyou & Yang, Chunhua & Fang, Honglin & Tang, Hao, 2016. "In situ investigation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance with novel segmented cell design and a two-phase flow model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1071-1089.
    22. Barzegari, Mohammad M. & Alizadeh, Ebrahim & Pahnabi, Amir H., 2017. "Grey-box modeling and model predictive control for cascade-type PEMFC," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 611-622.
    23. Islam, Mohammad Rafiqul & Shabani, Bahman & Rosengarten, Gary, 2016. "Nanofluids to improve the performance of PEM fuel cell cooling systems: A theoretical approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 660-671.
    24. Guo, Hang & Liu, Xuan & Zhao, Jian Fu & Ye, Fang & Ma, Chong Fang, 2016. "Effect of low gravity on water removal inside proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with different flow channel configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 926-934.
    25. Islam, M.R. & Shabani, B. & Rosengarten, G. & Andrews, J., 2015. "The potential of using nanofluids in PEM fuel cell cooling systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 523-539.

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