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Numerical analysis of gas crossover effects in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs)

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  • Nam, Jinmoo
  • Chippar, Purushothama
  • Kim, Whangi
  • Ju, Hyunchul

Abstract

The gas crossover phenomenon in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is an indicator of membrane degradation. The objective of this paper is to numerically investigate the effects of hydrogen and oxygen crossover through the membrane in PEFCs. A gas crossover model is newly developed and implemented in a comprehensive multi-dimensional, multi-phase PEFC model developed earlier. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effects of the crossover diffusion coefficients for hydrogen and oxygen as well as the membrane thickness. The simulation results demonstrate that the hydrogen crossover induces an additional oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and consequently causes an additional voltage drop, while the influence of oxygen crossover on PEFC performance is relatively insignificant because it leads to the hydrogen/oxygen chemical reaction at the anode side. Finally, using the time-dependent gas crossover data that are available in the literature (measured in days), we conduct gas crossover simulations to examine the effects of increased gas crossover due to membrane degradation on PEFC performance and successfully demonstrate decaying polarization curves with respect to time. This study clearly elucidates the detailed mechanisms of the hydrogen and oxygen crossover phenomena and their effect on PEFC performance and durability.

Suggested Citation

  • Nam, Jinmoo & Chippar, Purushothama & Kim, Whangi & Ju, Hyunchul, 2010. "Numerical analysis of gas crossover effects in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs)," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(12), pages 3699-3709, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:87:y:2010:i:12:p:3699-3709
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Baik, Kyung Don & Hong, Bo Ki & Kim, Min Soo, 2013. "Effects of operating parameters on hydrogen crossover rate through Nafion® membranes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 234-239.
    2. Ismail, M.S. & Hughes, K.J. & Ingham, D.B. & Ma, L. & Pourkashanian, M., 2012. "Effects of anisotropic permeability and electrical conductivity of gas diffusion layers on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 50-63.
    3. Yang, Weiguang & Guo, Hui & Niu, Fuquan & Wang, Bingjie & Huang, Bin & Niu, Sirui & Liu, Jianli & Yang, Shuting & Yang, Yange, 2023. "A novel strategy for accelerating degradation of proton exchange membranes in fuel cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 38-46.
    4. Bae, Suk Joo & Kim, Seong-Joon & Lee, Jin-Hwa & Song, Inseob & Kim, Nam-In & Seo, Yongho & Kim, Ki Buem & Lee, Naesung & Park, Jun-Young, 2014. "Degradation pattern prediction of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack with series reliability structure via durability data of single cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 48-55.
    5. Xuan, Jin & Leung, D.Y.C. & Wang, Huizhi & Leung, Michael K.H. & Wang, Bin & Ni, Meng, 2013. "Air-breathing membraneless laminar flow-based fuel cells: Do they breathe enough oxygen?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 400-407.
    6. Wu, Horng-Wen & Ku, Hui-Wen, 2011. "The optimal parameters estimation for rectangular cylinders installed transversely in the flow channel of PEMFC from a three-dimensional PEMFC model and the Taguchi method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4879-4890.
    7. Baik, Kyung Don & Kong, Im Mo & Hong, Bo Ki & Kim, Sae Hoon & Kim, Min Soo, 2013. "Local measurements of hydrogen crossover rate in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 560-566.
    8. Wang, H.Y. & Yang, W.J. & Kim, Y.B., 2014. "Analyzing in-plane temperature distribution via a micro-temperature sensor in a unit polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 148-155.
    9. Pei, Pucheng & Wu, Ziyao & Li, Yuehua & Jia, Xiaoning & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Improved methods to measure hydrogen crossover current in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 338-347.
    10. Pan, Mingzhang & Pan, Chengjie & Li, Chao & Zhao, Jian, 2021. "A review of membranes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Transport phenomena, performance and durability," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    11. Ko, Johan & Ju, Hyunchul, 2012. "Comparison of numerical simulation results and experimental data during cold-start of polymer electrolyte fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 364-374.
    12. Lin, Chien-Hung, 2013. "Surface roughness effect on the metallic bipolar plates of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 898-904.

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