PEM Fuel Cell Stack
Application ID: 103241
This tutorial model defines a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack, consisting of five fuel cells.
The flow field in the individual plates is described using a anisotropic permeability, defining the governing flow direction.
The hydrogen and oxygen channels are antisymmetric and give a co-current flow in the inlet and outlet section, and a counter-current flow in the middle of the plates.
The model includes a full coupling between fluid flow, multicomponent transport, electrolyte potential, and electrode potentials. The model includes detailed electrode kinetics and thermodynamics.
The cell voltage is varied in a so-called auxiliary sweep in order to compute a polarization (I vs V) curve.
This model example illustrates applications of this type that would nominally be built using the following products:
however, additional products may be required to completely define and model it. Furthermore, this example may also be defined and modeled using components from the following product combinations:
The combination of COMSOL® products required to model your application depends on several factors and may include boundary conditions, material properties, physics interfaces, and part libraries. Particular functionality may be common to several products. To determine the right combination of products for your modeling needs, review the Specification Chart and make use of a free evaluation license. The COMSOL Sales and Support teams are available for answering any questions you may have regarding this.