Modelling of PEFC electrodes and cells

摘要

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems are gathering more and more interest when it comes to distributed heat and power production as well as for vehicle applications. In system studies, it is important to have a reliable and flexible stack model that is relatively fast to compute. Models can also be used for development and understanding of stacks. In this paper the results from a steady-state stack model are presented. The stack model developed consists of simplified sub-models of the anode, the cathode and the membrane. A detailed model of the cathode has been validated experimentally and the limiting factor in the active layer was proven to be the mass transfer. This made it possible to describe the cathode with a simplified model. At the anode side, a simplified agglomerate model has been used. Membrane properties have also been experimentally characterised and modelled. Validation of the stack model has been done in an in-house developed fuel cell stack composed of cells of 54 cm~2 area.