A Numerical Model of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with Large Active Area
S.S. Yu, Y.D. Lee and K.Y. Ahn
A numerical model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is developed to understand the effect of the water and thermal management on the performance of the unit fuel cell with large active area. The model is used for the study of water management taking into account the temperature distribution inside the fuel cell. When the active area is large enough to satisfy the power demand, the water management of the large active area PEMFC is very difficult due to the coupled effect of water distribution with temperature distribution. The water management of the large active area PEMFC is investigated over selected current densities and cooling conditions. The results show that the humidity condition of inlet gases should be controlled properly to improve electric potential of the PEMFC.
Keywords: Numerical Model, Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC), Large active area, Temperature distribution, Cooling, Water management