A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR THE CORROSION OF METALLIC BIPOLAR PLATES IN PEM FUEL CELLS: NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ISSUES

摘要

A two-dimensional mathematical model for corrosion of metallic bipolar plates in a PEM fuel cell (FC) is presented. Numerical approximations by a novel finite difference technique to deal with nonlinear and mixed boundary conditions are illustrated. Numerical computations and comparisons with experimental data obtained with a laboratory PEMFC are reported. Good qualitative agreement of the simulations has been found with the time dependence of the average current density and with the space distribution of the corrosion rate.