Cold-start characteristics of polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Conference · Thu Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 2009

OSTI ID:983923

Mishler, Jeff ^[1]; Mukundan, Rangachary ^[1]; Wang, Yun ^[2]; Mishler, Jeff ^[2]; Mukherjee, Partha P ^[3]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory
2. UNIV. CAL. RIVERSIDE
3. ORNL

In this paper, we investigate the electrochemical reaction kinetics, species transport, and solid water dynamics in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) during cold start. A simplitied analysis is developed to enable the evaluation of the impact of ice volume fraction on cell performance during coldstart. Supporting neutron imaging data are also provided to reveal the real-time water evolution. Temperature-dependent voltage changes due to the reaction kinetics and ohmic loss are also analyzed based on the ionic conductivity of the membrane at subfreezing temperature. The analysis is valuable for the fundamental study of PEFC cold-start.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 983923
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-10-00283; LA-UR-10-283
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
EVALUATION
HEAT TRANSFER
IONIC CONDUCTIVITY
MEMBRANES
NEUTRONS
PERFORMANCE
PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELLS
REACTION KINETICS
TRANSPORT
WATER