Analysis of the Failure Modes in the Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Cold-Start Process—Anode Dehydration or Cathode Pore Blockage

Abstract

In this study, the cold-start failure processes of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell have been investigated numerically for different initial membrane water content λ 0 and the startup current densities I 0 . The result shows that the failure of the cell cold-start process is mostly attributed to the anode dehydration when the cell operates with relatively large current density. However, the failure is dominated by the cathode pore blockage when the cell starts with relatively high initial membrane water content. Corresponding maps for the classification of startup failure modes are plotted on the λ 0 − I 0 plane with different startup temperatures. Three zones, including the anode dehydration, the cathode pore blockage, and the ambiguous region, can be observed. They can be distinguished with different startup failure mechanisms. The anode dehydration zone is expanded as the cell startup temperature drops due to the weakening of the membrane water back-diffusion ability. In the ambiguous region, the startup failure phenomena may be either anode dehydration or cathode pore blockage, which depends on the stochastic freezing process of the supercooled water.