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Numerical Investigation on the Influence of Reactant Gas Concentration on the Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell

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Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research

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Abstract

The present study numerically investigates the influence of reactant gas concentration on the performance characteristics of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The effect of reactant gas configurations of the electrodes is discussed in terms of performance characteristics viz. cathode water concentration, current density, power density, and overpotential. Our study reveals that cathode water concentration, current density, and subsequently power density has a linear relationship with the concentration of reactant gases. It is found that the cell performance becomes superior with an increase in the concentration of reactant gases. Furthermore, overpotential is observed to be minimum at higher concentrations of reactant gases. The findings of this study bear utility towards designing an efficient PEM fuel cell system that can deliver a higher power density, current density with minimal overpotential.

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Abbreviations

u :

Velocity, m/s

i e :

Ionic current density, A/m2

i s :

Electrical current density, A/m2

k p :

Permeability, m2

\(\mu\) :

Viscosity, kg/m s

D ij :

Diffusion coefficient of species i and j

M :

Molecular weight

w i :

Mass fraction of species i

s :

Liquid saturation

S T :

Total heat, J

p :

Pressure, Pa

\(c_{p}\) :

Specific heat capacity, J/kg/K

ε :

Porosity

σ :

Electron/ion conductivity

T :

Temperature, K

ρ :

Density of material, kg/m3

\(\omega\) :

Mass fraction

k :

Conductivity, S/m

\(\phi\) s :

Solid-phase potential, V

\(\phi\) l :

Electrolyte phase potential, V

x j :

Molar fraction of species j.

g :

Gas

T :

Thermal

eff:

Effective.

i :

Species

g :

Gas

l :

Liquid

s :

Solid.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar, 788010, India

    Brajesh Kumar Kanchan, Pitambar R. Randive & Sukumar Pati

Authors
  1. Brajesh Kumar Kanchan
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  2. Pitambar R. Randive
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  3. Sukumar Pati
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pitambar R. Randive .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Manaswita Bose

  2. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Anish Modi

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Kanchan, B.K., Randive, P.R., Pati, S. (2021). Numerical Investigation on the Influence of Reactant Gas Concentration on the Performance of a PEM Fuel Cell. In: Bose, M., Modi, A. (eds) Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Advances in Energy Research. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5955-6_159

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5955-6_159

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-5954-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-5955-6

  • eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)

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