Steady state macroscopic model of the influence of water on the performances of a micro air-breathing fuel cell

¹ ENSEEIHT (École Nationale Supérieure d'Électrotechnique, d'Électronique, d'Hydraulique, et des Télécommunications), Laboratoire LAPLACE (Laboratoire PLAsma et Conversion d'Énergie), 2 rue Charles Camichel, BP 7122, 31071 Toulouse Cedex 7, France
² CNRS, Laboratoire LAPLACE, ENSEEIHT,, BP 7122, 2 rue Charles Camichel, 31071 Toulouse Cedex 7, France
³ STMicroelectronics, 16 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 37100 Tours, France
⁴ ENSEEIHT-INPT, Laboratoire LAPLACE, 31071 Toulouse, France

Corresponding author: marwan.zeidan@laplace.univ-tlse.fr

Received: 30 June 2010
Accepted: 6 January 2011
Published online: 31 May 2011

Abstract

Water management is one of the most crucial issues to drive PEM fuel cells. The challenge is enhanced in the case of micro air-breathing proton exchange membrane fuel cells (μABFC): their thinness and their reduced surface indeed make their hydration state fast changing and very sensitive to the experimental conditions (temperature and relative humidity (RH)). It can lead to strong flooding or drying out issues. Firstly, this study highlights this sensitivity by various measurements. Then a steady state macroscopic model for the μABFC is proposed, focusing on the cathode, using a rather original approach for diffusion in porous media. Finally, a literal steady state formula for the water content is provided, and its influences on the performances of the μABFC are explicitly proposed. The model is parameterized and compared to measures in several atmospheric conditions.