Abstract
In order to grasp properly the power generation performances of PEFC (Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell), it is necessary to know the water management data, such as diffusion coefficient of water vapor through MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly) and GDL (Gas Diffusion Layer), and electro-osmotic coefficient of MEA, and power loss data, such as activation and resistance overpotentials. In this study we have measured these data to analyze our experimental results of PEFC power generation tests by our two-dimensional simulation code. Our code solves simultaneously the mass, charge and energy conservation equations, and the equivalent electric-circuit for PEFC to get numerical distributions of hydrogen/oxygen concentrations, cell potential, current density, and gas/cell-component temperatures. The current density distributions calculated by our simulation code were compared with the measured distribution by our segmented electrodes cell. The measured distributions under various operating conditions agreed well with the calculated ones showing that our code is reliable. The concentration overpotential through GDL was also estimated by the parallel fine pores model, but the estimated concentration overpotential was very small and could be neglected in the power generating performance of PEFC.
