Computational analysis of transport phenomena in proton exchange membrane for polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Abstract

The steady-state and isothermal mathematical modeling of polymer electrolyte fuel cells was conducted based on two-phase fuel transport using computational fluid dynamics technique. Unlike previous researches, presented model describes gas- and dissolution-phase fuel transport simultaneously in catalyst layers consisting of fluid, ionomer and catalyst phase. With the presented model, key transport and electrochemical phenomena inside proton exchange membrane and catalyst layers were investigated to understand the reasons for the local distribution of each phenomenon. The results from the analysis showed that membrane thickness is one of the crucial parameters for water transport between anode and cathode, which affects the cell performance, severely. This transport phenomenon through proton exchange membrane governs local distribution of water content and current density.