TY - JOUR
T1 - Transient analysis of polymer electrolyte fuel cells
AU - Wang, Yun
AU - Wang, Chao Yang
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this work by Department of Energy and ConocoPhillips under cooperative agreement #DE-FC26-01NT41098 is acknowledged.
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - A three-dimensional, transient model has been developed to study the transient dynamics of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) operation. First, various time constants are estimated for important transient phenomena of electrochemical double-layer discharging, gas transport through the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and membrane hydration. It is found that membrane hydration occurs over a period of 10 s, the gas transport of 0.01-0.1 s, with the double-layer discharging being negligibly fast. Subsequently, extensive numerical simulations, with the transient processes of membrane hydration and gas transport taken into consideration, are carried out to characterize the dynamic response of a singe-channel PEFC with N112 membrane. The results show that the time for fuel cells to reach steady state is in the order of 10 s due to the effect of water accumulation in the membrane, consistent with theoretical estimation. In addition, overshoot or undershoot of the current densities is found during the step changes in some operating conditions, and detailed results are provided to reveal the dynamic physics of these phenomena.
AB - A three-dimensional, transient model has been developed to study the transient dynamics of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) operation. First, various time constants are estimated for important transient phenomena of electrochemical double-layer discharging, gas transport through the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and membrane hydration. It is found that membrane hydration occurs over a period of 10 s, the gas transport of 0.01-0.1 s, with the double-layer discharging being negligibly fast. Subsequently, extensive numerical simulations, with the transient processes of membrane hydration and gas transport taken into consideration, are carried out to characterize the dynamic response of a singe-channel PEFC with N112 membrane. The results show that the time for fuel cells to reach steady state is in the order of 10 s due to the effect of water accumulation in the membrane, consistent with theoretical estimation. In addition, overshoot or undershoot of the current densities is found during the step changes in some operating conditions, and detailed results are provided to reveal the dynamic physics of these phenomena.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.electacta.2004.08.022
DO - 10.1016/j.electacta.2004.08.022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:10644248338
SN - 0013-4686
VL - 50
SP - 1307
EP - 1315
JO - Electrochimica Acta
JF - Electrochimica Acta
IS - 6
ER -