Three-Dimensional Modeling and Numerical Analysis for PEM Fuel Cells

This study aims to obtain an effective method in terms of compressive pressure to reduce the performance loss in cells with increased reaction area. The performance curve and compression pressure distribution confirmed that the performance loss increased as the reaction area increased. Therefore, the gasket thickness was adjusted to resolve this issue. By adjusting the gasket thickness, the performance loss through compression pressure could be relatively alleviated. Each ratio of activation loss (eta(act)), ohmic loss (eta(ohmic)), and mass transport loss (eta(mass transport)) was compared and analyzed in detail. When optimal performance was observed in the 25 and 50 cm(2) cells, a pressure range of 17.4-20.2 kPa/cm(2) was determined by investigating the internal pressure per unit area. Based on these results, the modeling of bilinear equations was established, and using this model, the range of internal compression pressure values for optimal performance in a cell with a reaction area over 50 cm(2) could be derived. This model will help determine the optimal value of the internal compression pressure to obtain high-performance, large-area cells that can be used in real life beyond the laboratory scale.