Performance Investigation of High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Awareness on the issues associated with the development of sustainable energy and climate change has significantly improved. The fuel cell has been considered an efficient and clean alternative power source. The principle operation on proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) naturally leads to the development of water as a by-product of the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to investigate the performance of high-temperature PEMFCs and the development of water profile. The CFD model was developed using ANSYS® Fluent software, ANSYS 18.0. The model was designed as a single straight channel measuring 2.4 mm in width, 2.88 mm in height and 125 mm in length. The simulation was carried out at the temperature range of 80°C to 120°C with an operating pressure of 200 kPa. Results were presented in the form of polarisation curve and contour of the H2O mass fraction at the gas channel mid-plane at different operating temperatures. At lower operating temperature ranges, namely 80°C, the simulation results showed the higher performance of HT-PEMFC in term of current density compared to the higher operating temperature. The mass fraction of water was observed to be more concentrated at the anode gas channel compared to the cathode gas channel. The mass fraction of water at the anode and cathode gas channels increased with decreasing operating temperature from 120°C to 80°C that could indicate the possibility of water flooding in the HT-PEMFC components thus could affect the durability of the cell.