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Along‐channel mathematical modelling for proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Author(s) -
Huang Wenbo,
Zhou Biao,
Sobiesiak Andrzej
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.1139
Subject(s) - proton exchange membrane fuel cell , stack (abstract data type) , pressure drop , anode , cathode , nuclear engineering , voltage drop , mechanics , volumetric flow rate , fuel cells , materials science , chemistry , voltage , engineering , computer science , chemical engineering , electrical engineering , electrode , physics , programming language
Proper water and thermal management is essential for obtaining high performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). A steady, two‐dimensional water and thermal management model was developed, aiming at considering pressure effects (i.e. the effects of local pressure on the cell performance), pressure drop, open circuit voltage variation with stack temperature, water vapour effects on membrane conductivity, which made the model physically more reasonable and more suitable for various operating conditions. The model could predict the distributions of a series of important parameters along the flow channel, and thus the effects of various operating and design parameters on the fuel cell performance could be investigated easily by numerical trial‐and‐error method. The modelling results compared well with the available experimental results from the literatures. The results also showed that the humidification of both anode and cathode is crucial for the performance of PEMFCs. The model could be a very useful engineering tool for the optimization of PEMFCs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.