Analysis of the influences on dynamic response of relative humidity to PEMFC during loading

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8484.2023.01.011

Abstract

Abstract:

A numerical model of dynamic heat transfer was proposed to analyze the influences of relative humidity on the dynamic performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), in which the effects of relative humidity and step current on the output voltage were considered, revealing the response law of relative humidity to the water content and current density distribution in the proton exchange membrane (PEM) under the condition of step current change. The dynamic heat transfer (DHT) model was imported into Fluent software through a custom function (UDF) and calculated by the finite volume method. The dynamic response performance of PEMFC was evaluated under the operating temperature of 60 ℃, load current loading amplitude of 5 A, cathode relative humidity of 100%, anode relative humidity of 50% and 100%, respectively. The polarization curves and output voltage responses by the DHT model were compared with the experimental data. The results show that the output voltage and maximum power density with anodic relative humidity of 100% are better than those obtained with anodic relative humidity of 50%. When the anode relative humidity is 100%, the error between the DHT model and the experiment is only 2.18%. The distribution of current density is related to the water content in PEM membrane and the humidity of gas at the anode side. With the increase of relative humidity on the anode side, the distribution uniformity of current density across the membrane decreases. When the relative humidity of anode side are 50% and 100%, the ranges of water content distribution in the membrane before and after loading are 2.9 and 3.1 kmol/m³, 3 and 4.2 kmol/m³, respectively.

Key words: proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), dynamic heat transfer (DHT), dynamic response, relative humidity, current density distribution

CLC Number:

U473.4

LIU Yongfeng, ZHANG Lu, PEI Pucheng, LIU Xintong, YU Yongshuai. Analysis of the influences on dynamic response of relative humidity to PEMFC during loading[J]. Journal of Automotive Safety and Energy, 2023, 14(1): 89-97.

Figures/Tables 9

References 21

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片数	1
阴、阳极每条流道宽度	0.12、0.12 cm
阴、阳极每条流道深度	0.8、0.6 mm
阴、阳极每条流道背脊宽度	0.8、0.8 mm
气体扩散层厚度	0.3 ~ 0.6 mm
催化剂层厚度	15 μm
质子交换膜的厚度	15 μm
流道单个弯道的长度	50 mm
阴阳极流道数目	10、10

片数	1
阴、阳极每条流道宽度	0.12、0.12 cm
阴、阳极每条流道深度	0.8、0.6 mm
阴、阳极每条流道背脊宽度	0.8、0.8 mm
气体扩散层厚度	0.3 ~ 0.6 mm
催化剂层厚度	15 μm
质子交换膜的厚度	15 μm
流道单个弯道的长度	50 mm
阴阳极流道数目	10、10