Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D-CFD) simulation of hydrogen transport to investigate the effect of output voltage and inlet anode velocity on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performances

Abstract

A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stands out as a highly efficient device for hydrogen utilization. This study presents a three-dimensional simulation that integrates computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to accurately and swiftly predict the PEM fuel cell performance. Initially, the proposed model undergoes validation using existing literature data. Subsequently, it is deployed to simulate the distribution and evolution of various parameters including current density, hydrogen and oxygen mass fractions, pressure and temperature in the PEM fuel cell. The findings reveal that the optimization of current density can be obtained by increasing the consumption rates of hydrogen and oxygen. In the scenarios investigated, a decrease in output voltage from 0.6 V to 0.46 V leads to a notable increase in current density from $0.8447A/{Cm}^2$ to $0.9944A/{Cm}^2$. The results, also, show that the maximum power density in this study reaches $0.596W/{Cm}^2$ when inlet velocity of anode channel is fixed at $0.5m/s$. On the other hand, when we increase the inlet velocity to $0.5m/s$, the reduced residence time and potential diffusion limitations can lower the mass fraction of hydrogen participating in the electrochemical reaction.