Effect of assembly pressure on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell

The assembly force is a crucial factor in the process of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacking, and has significant effects on the fluid flow, mass transfer, and water and thermal management, which affect the fuel cell performance. In this study, from the most deformable component, the gas diffusion layer (GDL), combining with a finite-element analysis, and computational fluid dynamic method, the impact of the assembly force on a single-channel PEMFC is analyzed. A nonlinear stress–strain curve obtained from a microanalysis is creatively introduced into the two-dimensional compression model. The gas diffusion coefficient in the three-dimensional model is also obtained from the microscopic simulation. The simulated effective oxygen diffusion coefficient of the compressed GDL is approximately 0.86 times the Bruggemann estimated value. When the contact resistance is ignored, the output voltage at 2.5 MPa is decreased by approximately 15.4% at 1.7 A·cm⁻² compared with that at 0.5 MPa. After the contact resistance is considered, the effects of the assembly pressure on the cell performance (V–I curve) are qualitatively different. The pressure drop of the 2.5 MPa case is 20% higher than that of the 1.4 MPa case at 1.7 A cm⁻². O₂ is hard to flow into the region under the rib where the porosity and permeability are lower. The results indicate that both liquid water and membrane water contents increase when the assembly force increases. The effect of the assembly force on the temperature is also analyzed.