(Digital Presentation) Multiscale Modeling of Two-Phase Transport in the Membrane Electrode Assembly of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells: Effect of Relative Humidity and Temperature
Authors: Garcia-Salaberri Pablo A. , Sánchez-Ramos Arturo , Zenyuk Iryna 
Published: August 2024

Water management plays an important role in the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Achieving enhanced water removal at high current density without membrane dehydration requires an optimal design of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and MEA-channel interaction depending on operating conditions. The analysis of two-phase transport is challenged by the wide range of pore sizes found in porous layer assemblies, varying from 1-100 nm in the catalyst layer (CL), 50-1000 nm in the microporous layer (MPL) and 10 µm in the gas diffusion layer (GDL), up to the millimeter-sized channel. In this work, a hybrid multiscale model is presented to describe two-phase transport and performance of a representative unit cell as a function of relative humidity (RH) and temperature [1-3]. A control volume (CV) decomposition is used to represent the multiscale pore space of the GDL, MPL and CL in terms of local effective transport properties (porosity, effective diffusivity, permeability, thermal/electrical conductivity and entry capillary pressure) [4]. The model incorporates a macroscopic continuum formulation for gas flow and species, energy, liquid-phase pressure, water dissolved in ionomer, and electronic and ionic potentials [5]. Liquid water transport is modeled by means of a multi-cluster invasion-percolation algorithm, which is coupled to the macroscopic continuum formulation by the phase-change source term of water (evaporation/condensation). Water clusters with a net condensation rate grow by invading the adjacent dry CV with the lowest entry capillary pressure, while clusters with a net evaporation rate shrink by drying the wet CV of the cluster with the lowest entry capillary pressure. An all-or-nothing invasion law is adopted for saturation in the GDL (one pore per CV), while a macroscopic description in terms of capillary pressure curve at the representative elementary volume scale (REV) is used for the MPL and the GDL (thousands to millions of pores per CV). An example of the saturation distribution in the cathode MEA is shown in Figure 1. Local saturation remains between 0.1-0.4 in REVs of the CL and the MPL, increasing up to 1 in macropores of the GDL. Water condenses preferentially under the ribs and transport by capillary action to the GDL/channel interface, where the water flow is released to the channel. The channel saturation remains low, around 0.1, due to the large gas flow velocity used in the differential cell.

[1] P.A. García-Salaberri, Modeling diffusion and convection in thin porous transport layers using a composite continuum-network model: Application to gas diffusion layers in polymer electrolyte fuel cells, 167 (2021) 120824.

[2] D. Zapardiel, P.A. García-Salaberri, Modeling the interplay between water capillary transport and species diffusion in gas diffusion layers of proton exchange fuel cells using a hybrid computational fluid dynamics formulation, J. Power Sources 520 (2022) 230735.

[3] P.A. García-Salaberri, Effect of thickness and outlet area fraction of macroporous gas diffusion layers on oxygen transport resistance in water injection simulations, Transp. Porous Media 145 (2022) 413-440.

[4] P.A. García-Salaberri, I.V. Zenyuk, A General-Purpose Tool for Modeling Multifunctional Thin Porous Media (POREnet): From Pore Network To Effective Property Tensors, Heliyon (2023), submitted.

[5] P.A. García-Salaberri, A. Sánchez-Ramos, A numerical analysis of the effect of layer-scale and microscopic parameters of membrane electrode assembly in proton exchange fuel cells under two-phase conditions, J. Power Sources (2023), accepted.

Figure 1. Saturation distribution in the cathode MEA of a PEMFC operated at 70 oC and RH=0.95 at high stoichiometric conditions. The current density is I=0.5 A cm-2.

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Figure 1