Numerical Study of PEMFC Water Management for Control and Diagnosis Strategies Design

摘要

Water management is one of the most important topics for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) since it affects the achievement of high/peak power performance. This research work deals with the main water dynamics from the viewpoint of the fuel cell control and diagnosis to improve on-field operation. Therefore, attention has been given to the achievement of synthetic but comprehensive models, which can be easily applied for both control and diagnosis strategies design and on-board applications. The paper focuses on the effects of water transport mechanism through the components of the cell on PEMFC's performance. For this purpose, it is assumed that evaporation and capillarity are the predominant processes in the water flow through the gas diffusion layer (GDL). These mechanisms are simulated through accurate, computationally fast and low order models (mean value models - MVM). Fast simulation time is achieved by lumping the space dependence of the main variables. The novelty of the work lies in the fusion of a comprehensive PEMFC stack model with a map-based simulation model, which reproduces the water transport through the GDL and at the interface between GDL and gas flow channel (GFC). This approach can lead to the exploration of advanced control strategies to enhance stack performance, improve fault diagnosis and increase system durability.