Water saturation distribution in a PEMFC at the cathode side using OpenFOAM

Abstract

Water management is a critical issue for achieving the optimum performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) since water flooding limits the flow of reactants to catalyst zones and produces electrode regions with higher electric resistance. We used a 3D non-isothermal multiphase model of a single PEMFC to investigate the liquid water saturation distribution at the cathode side. We used an open-source toolbox to solve finite volume method calculations and implement an effective diffusion model based on fiber layers. A parametric study of the condensation rate and saturation at 0.4, 0.2, and 0.1 V illustrates the distribution of liquid water saturation and the flooding zones across the electrode components. The comparison shows that the flooding zones are located at the land ribs. Also, increased water saturation and higher oxygen consumption produce a reactant restriction in the porous media and impact the global performance of the fuel cell.