Numerical Analysis on Impact of Thickness of PEM and GDL with and without MPL on Coupling Phenomena in PEFC Operated at Higher Temperature Such as 363 K and 373 K

Abstract

The aim of this study is to clarify the impact of the thickness of a gas diffusion layer (GDL) and a micro porous layer (MPL) on the distributions of gas, H2O, and current density in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) which is operated at 363 K and 373 K and with various thicknesses of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) as well as a relative humidity (RH) of supply gas. These investigations are carried out by numerical simulation using the 3D model with COMSOL Multiphysics. In the case of Nafion 115, which is the thicker PEM, the change in the molar concentration of H2O from the inlet to the outlet with MPL is larger than that without MPL irrespective of the thickness of GDL, Tini and RH condition. In the case of Nafion NRE-212, which is the thinner PEM, the change in the molar concentration of H2O from the inlet to the outlet is larger with MPL than that without MPL in the case of TGP-H-060 (the thicker commercial GDL), while that is smaller with MPL than that without MPL in the case of TGP-H-030 (the thinner commercial GDL). These results exhibit the same tendency as the results of the numerical simulation on the current density.