Volume 39: Energy Transitions toward Carbon Neutrality: Part II

Investigating the Transient Response of a Low Pt-loaded PEMFC under Various Operating Conditions Asal Saeidfar, Serhat Yesilyurt

Abstract

Understanding the dynamic behavior of low Pt-loaded proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) subjected to rapid load changes is a prerequisite for ensuring reliable devices suitable for transportation applications. The dynamic cell response requires the coupled solution of all the involved processes. To this end, a multiphase non-isothermal pseudo-three-dimensional (P3D) model coupled with a detailed electrochemical sub-model is adopted for a straight fuel cell portion to evaluate the cell dynamic response under the Galvano-dynamic condition. In addition, the mixed wettability model is incorporated to account for the microstructural properties of different porous layers. The effect of catalyst salient features including Pt-loading, ionomer to carbon weight ratio (I/C ratio), additional bare carbon particles, and CL thickness as well as operating conditions including relative humidity and stoichiometry ratios are studied under load cycling.

Keywords Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell, Pseudo-Three-Dimensional Model, Dynamic Response, CL Morphology, Low Pt-Loaded Catalysts, Operating Conditions