Abstract
The fuel cell is an electrochemical energy converter that directly converts the chemical energy of the fuel into electrical current and heat. The fuel cell has been able to identify itself as a source of clean energy over the past few decades. In order to achieve the durability and stability of fuel cells, many parameters should be considered and evaluated Therefore, in this study, a single-channel high-temperature polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) has been numerically simulated in three-dimensional, isothermal and single-phase approach. The distribution of the hydrogen and oxygen concentrations, as well as water in the anode and cathode, are shown; then the effect of different parameters of the operating pressure, the gas diffusion layer porosity, the electrical conductivity of the gas diffusion layer, the ionic conductivity of the membrane and the membrane thickness are investigated and evaluated on the fuel cell performance. The results showed that the pressure drop in the cathode channel was higher than the anode channel, so that the pressure drop in the cathode channel was higher than 9 bars but, in the anode channel was equal to 2 bars. By examining the species concentration, it was observed that their concentration at the entrance was higher and at the output was reduced due to participation in the reaction and consumption. Also, with increasing the operating pressure, the electrical conductivity of the gas diffusion layer and ionic conduction of the membrane, the performance of the fuel cell is improved.
Highlights
Due to the environmental issues posed by fossil energy sources, reducing the effects of these sources is one of the main priorities in energy planning today
The results show that increasing the cell temperature and the porosity of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and reducing the thickness of the GDL will improve the performance of high-temperature fuel cells
The pressure drop across the anode channel is 2 bars, and throughout the cathode channel is higher than 9 bars
Summary
Due to the environmental issues posed by fossil energy sources, reducing the effects of these sources is one of the main priorities in energy planning today. Their models have a direct gas flow channel and are simulated three-dimensional, single-phase, and non-isothermal They studied the effect of temperature, pressure, flow stoichiometry, gas channel width, thickness of the GDL, membrane thickness, porosity of the GDL and thermal conductivity of the GDL on the fuel cell performance. Zhang et al [26] investigated the effect of relative humidity on the performance of single-cell PEM fuel cell at temperature of 120 ◦ C and pressure of 1 atmosphere Their experimental results showed that with relative humidity decreasing from 100 to 25 percent, the voltage reached from 0.675 V to 0.358 V and the performance and production capacity of the fuel cell decreased, since, with decreasing of humidity, the electrode reaction and mass penetration rate were slower and membrane resistance increases. The results presented are used to define the most effective material properties that should be considered in the improvement of PEMFC degradation models
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