A numerical investigation of the effects of membrane swelling in polymer electrolyte fuel cells

A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics model of PEM fuel cell is developed by taking into account the electrochemical, mass and heat transfer process occurring in the cathode compartment. Additionally, this model includes the effect of water content in the membrane swelling phenomenon. Several parameters such as gases temperature, inlet velocity and membrane characteristics are too investigated to establish their effect on the PEM fuel cell performance. The membrane water content and the air fraction variation in the gas channel are examined for diverse values of Reynolds number. In particular, the desirable inlet flow for enhancing the performance of the PEM fuel cell is determined by examining membrane water content patterns. The methodology in this study is useful to the control of water management and gas diffusion layer design.

► Membrane water content is controlled by the operating conditions in the cathode.
► When the membrane is in contact with water, only pore size varies.
► Membrane water content increase by increasing the functioning temperature.
► Good agreement between computational results and previous reported experimental data.