Impact of relative humidity and length-scale on the performance of a large PEM fuel cell.

Lai, K.K.; Arif, Muhammad; Andrews, John; Cheung, Sherman

Abstract

Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is emerging as a promising future power source. Research has been focused on small PEMFCs, while its scalability and the performance of large cells remains elusive. This paper presents a numerical investigation into the practicality of expanding a small PEMFC into a large one, and a parametric study on the impact of relative humidity (RH) on the operational performance of the large cell. Numerical predictions are firstly validated against our in-house experimental measurements, where the predicted polarization (V-I) curve is in good agreement with the measurements. Numerical results confirm that water accumulation/flooding exhibits different characteristics at different regions - namely the activation, ohmic loss and concentration loss regions - and poses significant impacts on the current density production. Numerical results also show that the small cell is more susceptible to water flooding in comparison to the large cell under similar operational conditions. Suffering from excessive liquid water, the performance of the small cell is not as good as the large one in the concentration loss region, where a significant increase of current density production is observed. A parametric study on the effect of the humidified reactants on cell performance has been also performed. The increase of RH generally shows an increasing effect on the performance of the cell, while the limitation is found at high RHs (60% and 80%) and low voltage (0.3V), due to the hydration of the membrane and the blockage of reactant delivery.

Citation

LAI, K.K., ARIF, M., ANDREWS, J. and CHEUNG, S. 2021. Impact of relative humidity and length-scale on the performance of a large PEM fuel cell. International journal of renewable energy research [online], 11(4), pages 1609-1620. Available from: https://doi.org/10.20508/ijrer.v11i4.12475.g8315

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 29, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Dec 31, 2021
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2021
• Deposit Date: Apr 25, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: May 13, 2024
• Journal: International journal of renewable energy research
• Electronic ISSN: 1309-0127
• Publisher: Gazi Üniversitesi, Diş Hekimliği Fakültesi
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 1609-1620
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.20508/ijrer.v11i4.12475.g8315
• Keywords: Polymer exchange membrane fuel cells; Fuel cells; Energy
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2308069