Effects of porous properties on cold-start behavior of polymer electrolyte fuel cells from sub-zero to normal operating temperatures

Geonhui Gwak, Johan Ko, Hyunchul Ju

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this investigation, a parametric study was performed using the transient cold-start model presented in our previous paper, in which the ice melting process and additional constitutive relations were newly included for transient cold-start simulations of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) from a sub-zero temperature (â'20°C) to a normal operating temperature (80°C). The focus is placed on exploring the transient cold-start behavior of a PEFC for different porous properties of the catalyst layer (CL) and gas diffusion layer (GDL). This work elucidates the detailed effects of these properties on key cold-start phenomena such as ice freezing/melting and membrane hydration/dehydration processes. In particular, the simulation results highlight that designing a cathode CL with a high ionomer fraction helps to retard the rate of ice growth whereas a high ionomer fraction in the anode CL is not effective to mitigate the anode dry-out and membrane dehydration issues during PEFC cold-start.

Original languageEnglish
Article number5770
JournalScientific Reports
Volume4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

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