Effects of dynamic changes in inlet temperature on proton exchange membrane fuel cell

To examine the effects of the inlet temperature on a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), this study proposes a dynamic temperature (DT) model by considering the dynamic variation in temperature that influences the water content of the cell and its performance. A three-dimensional model featuring the geometry and nonconformal mesh of the PEMFC is first formulated. An experiment was then conducted featuring a 34-cm2 single-cell and test system. Following this, a simulation and another experiment were carried out at a working temperature of 333 K with 100% relative humidity (RH) at inlet temperatures of 316 K, 323 K, and 328 K (at 50%, 60%, and 80% RH, respectively). The contours, which included hydrogen in the channels and water in the membrane, were then described. The results show that the proposed DT model can more accurately predict the performance of the PEMFC than the FLUENT model. In particular, when the inlet temperature was 328 K (80% RH), the maximum relative difference between the DT model and FLUENT was 13.8% compared to the results of the experiment. The hydrogen content in the channels decreased and the water content in the membrane increased as the reaction continued. The proposed model provides a new means for studying the effects of dynamic temperature on the PEMFC.