Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B (대한기계학회논문집B)

The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (대한기계학회)
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Numerical Study on the Effects of GDL Porosity on the PEMFC Performance

기체확산층의 기공률이 고분자 전해질 연료전지 성능에 미치는 영향에 관한 전산해석 연구

  • 김경연 (한밭대학교 기계공학과) ;
  • 손영준 (서울대학교 기계공학과, 한국에너지기술연구원) ;
  • 김민진 (한국에너지기술연구원) ;
  • 이원용 (한국에너지기술연구원)
  • Published : 2009.12.01
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Abstract

Numerical analysis was carried out to investigate the effect of GDL (Gas diffusion layer) porosity on the performance of PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell). A complete three-dimensional model was chosen for single straight channel geometry including cooling channel. Main emphasis is placed on the heat and mass transfer through the GDL with different porosity. The present numerical results show that at high current densities, the cell voltage is influenced by the GDL porosity while the cell performance is nearly the same at low current densities. At high current densities, low value of GDL porosity results in decrease of the fuel cell performance since the diffusion of reactant gas through GDL becomes slow with decreasing porosity. On the other hand, for high GDL porosity, the effective thermal conductivity becomes low and the heat generated in the cell is not removed rapidly. This causes the temperature of fuel cell to increase and gives rise to dehydration of the membrane, and ultimately increase of the ohmic loss.

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References

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