Numerical Modeling of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells With Analytical and Experimental Validation

A computational fluid dynamics model for high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) is developed. This allows for three-dimensional (3D) transport-coupled calculations to be conducted. All major transport phenomena and electrochemical processes are taken into consideration. Verification of the present model is achieved by comparison with current density and oxygen concentration distributions along a one-dimensional (1D) channel. Validation is achieved by comparison with polarization curves from experimental data gathered in-house. Deviations between experimental and numerical results are minor. Internal transport phenomena are also analyzed. Local variations of current density from under channel regions and under rib regions are displayed, as are oxygen mole fractions. The serpentine gas channels contribute positively to gas redistribution in the gas diffusion layers (GDLs) and channels.