International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol.35, No.20, 11437-11447, 2010
Experimental fuel cell performance analysis under different operating conditions and bipolar plate designs
This work presents experimental performance results for a 50 cm(2) Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell, including polarization curves and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) analysis of the Fuel Cell. EIS results were used for the determination of the cell ohmic resistance as well as charge transfer resistances under different operating conditions. Different combinations of operating conditions and bipolar plate designs were analysed. In particular, the effect of the cathode oxygen concentration, reactant gases humidification, and bipolar plate (BP) design were assessed. Butler-Volmer (BV) kinetic parameters such as the charge transfer coefficient were also determined from Tafel plots. The electronic contact resistances were measured for both Bipolar Plate designs, and the membrane protonic resistances were calculated. Its dependence on the BP flow field design and operating conditions is addressed. The results obtained in this work are aimed both at gaining insight into the fundamental processes determining the fuel cell performance, and at determining parameters needed for Computational Fuel Cell Dynamics (CFCD) numerical simulations. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Fuel cell performance;Bipolar plate design;Electrochemical impedance;spectroscopy;Contact resistance;Tafel plot