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http://dx.doi.org/10.9713/kcer.2012.50.3.556

Numerical Study on the Effect of Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) Properties in Cathode on the Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC)  

Chun, Jeong Hwan (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Korea University)
Jo, Dong Hyun (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Korea University)
Lee, Ji Young (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Korea University)
Kim, Sung Hyun (Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Korea University)
Publication Information
Korean Chemical Engineering Research / v.50, no.3, 2012 , pp. 556-561 More about this Journal
Abstract
In this study, the effect of properties of gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) was investigated using the numerical simulation. The multi-phase mixture ($M^2$) model was used to calculate liquid water saturation and oxygen concentration in GDL. GDL properties, which were contact angle, porosity, gas permeability and thickness, were changed to investigate the effect of GDL properties on the performance of PEMFC. The results demonstrated that performance of PEMFC was increased with increasing contact angle and porosity of GDL, but decreased with increasing thickness of GDL. The liquid water saturation was decreased but oxygen concentration was increased at the GDL-catalyst layer interface, because the mass transfer resistance decreased as the porosity and contact angle increased. On the other hands, as the thickness of GDL increased, pathway for liquid water and oxygen gas became longer, and then mass transfer resistance increased. For this reason, performance of PEMFC decreased with increasing thickness of GDL.
Keywords
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC); Gas diffusion layer (GDL); Multi-phase mixture ($M^2$) model;
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