Abstract
In almost 30 years of PEM fuel cell modeling, countless numerical models have been developed in science and industrial applications, almost none of which have been fully disclosed to the public. There is a large need for standardization and establishing a common ground not only in experimental characterization of fuel cells, but also in the development of simulation codes, to prevent each research group from having to start anew from scratch. Here, we publish the first open standalone implementation of a full-blown, steady-state, non-isothermal two-phase model for low-temperature PEM fuel cells. It is based on macro-homogeneous modeling approaches and implements the most essential through-plane transport processes in a five-layer MEA. The focus is on code simplicity and compactness with only a few hundred lines of clearly readable code, providing a starting point for more complex model development. The model is implemented as a standalone MATLAB function, based on MATLAB’s standard boundary value problem solver. The default simulation setup reflects wide-spread commercially available MEA materials. Operating conditions recommended for automotive applications by the European Commission are used to establish new fuel cell simulation base data, making our program a valuable candidate for model comparison, validation and benchmarking. Program summaryProgram Title: MMM1DProgram Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/2msdd4j84c.1Licensing provisions: BSD 3-clauseProgramming language: MATLABNature of problem: Steady-state, non-isothermal, two-phase simulation of the coupled through-plane transport of charge, heat and mass within the five-layer membrane electrode assembly of low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells.Solution method: MATLAB’s boundary value problem solver bvp4c, a finite difference solver that implements the 3-stage Lobatto IIIa collocation method with automated mesh selection based on the residual.Additional comments: The complete source code and the license agreement can also be obtained from https://www.isomorph.ch.
Highlights
The development of macro-homogeneous models of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (LT-PEMFCs) goes back almost 30 years, to Springer et al [1] and Bernardi & Verbrugge [2,3,4]
We present a very light-weight, free standalone implementation of a full-blown macro-homogeneous five-layer MEA model for low-temperature PEM fuel cells
The model is implemented as a standalone MATLAB function, relying only on MATLAB’s standard boundary value problem solver
Summary
The development of macro-homogeneous models of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (LT-PEMFCs) goes back almost 30 years, to Springer et al [1] and Bernardi & Verbrugge [2,3,4]. The source code has not been made available to the public This has several major drawbacks including (i) lack of validation and comparison between models, (ii) lack of extension capabilities, and (iii) implementation limitations’’. The model is implemented as a standalone MATLAB function, relying only on MATLAB’s standard boundary value problem solver This choice of programming environment lets the simulation run on a large variety of platforms and lets it benefit from MATLAB’s widespread availability in science and industry. Our implementation is open-source and published under the 3-clause BSD license permitting commercial use It provides a starting point for PEMFC model building in industry and research, and a sound basis for modeling extensions such as time dependence, multidimensionality, or advanced material parameterizations. Operating conditions recommended for automotive applications by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission [12] are simulated, establishing a new baseline for model comparison, benchmarking and validation
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