Three-dimensional CFD analysis of PEMFC with different membrane thicknesses

Mahmut Kaplan

Abstract


PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) is a potential candidate for future source of power used in different applications such as transportations, stationary and portable power. PEMFC consists of different parts including membrane, bipolar plate, flow channel, gas diffusion and catalyst layers. Membrane is one of the most important components of a PEMFC and its physical and geometrical features significantly affect PEMFC efficiency. In this paper, a three-dimensional, single-phase computational model has been improved to scrutinize membrane thickness effect on the PEM fuel cell performance using the ANSYS PEM Fuel Cell Module. Membrane thicknesses are in the range of a range of 0.0127 to 0.189 mm. The results reveal that a decrease in membrane thickness augments the current density at 0.4 and 0.6 V. The peak current density of 3.12 A/cm2 is achieved with 0.027 mm membrane thickness compared the model current density of 1.26 A/cm2 obtained by the model with 0.128 mm membrane thickness at 0.4 V. Oxygen consumption and water production also enhance with reducing membrane thickness at 0.4 and 0.6 V. However change thickness of the membrane has a negligible impact on impact pressure drop in the flow channel. It is found that optimization of membrane thickness are necessary for attaining high efficiency.

 

Received: 07 September 2022

Accepted: 07 October 2022

Published: 26 October 2022


Keywords


PEMFC; Membrane thickness; CFD; Cell performance; Pressure drop; Optimization

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21622/resd.2022.08.2.045

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Copyright (c) 2022 Mahmut Kaplan

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development

E-ISSN: 2356-8569

P-ISSN: 2356-8518

 

Published by:

Academy Publishing Center (APC)

Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT)

Alexandria, Egypt

resd@aast.edu