skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Elucidating through-plane liquid water profile in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1028352
 [1];
  1. University of California, Irvine, CA

In this paper, a numerical model incorporating micro-porous layers (MPLs) is presented for simulating water transport within the gas diffusion layers (GDLs) and MPLs as well as across their interfaces in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. One-dimensional analysis is conducted to investigate the impacts of MPL and GDL properties on the liquid-water profile across the anode GDL-MPL and cathode MPL-GDL regions. Furthermore, two-dimensional numerical simulations that take MPLs into account are also carried out to elucidate liquid water transport, particularly through-plane liquid-water profile in a PEM fuel cell. Results from case studies are presented.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1028352
Report Number(s):
SAND2010-6842C; TRN: US201122%%220
Resource Relation:
Conference: Proposed for presentation at the 218th Electrochemical Society Meeting held October 10-15, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English