Performance and degradation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: State of the art in modeling from atomistic to system scale

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) represent one of the most promising systems for both stationary and automotive applications (e.g. power generation and on-board application for hybrid vehicles). However, focusing on these latter ones, PEMFCs still present critical issues concerning system technology, design, fuel storage, system control and durability. To ensure the optimal operation, the fuel cell (FC) stack requires several auxiliary components (i.e. Balance of Plant – BoP), such as blowers, humidifiers, water pumps, etc. Although the correct design of the stack is a core issue, the whole system efficiency depends on the behavior of both the stack and the BoP, which also require an optimized design. To enhance the development and the control of a PEMFC system, mathematical models can be of help by contributing to the reduction of development time and costs by means of system prototyping and testing. Furthermore, models can also be exploited for diagnostic purposes, to identify the main unhealthy behaviors and their causes in order to define and improve suited control strategies. For this reason, a comprehensive PEMFC system model is required.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art in modeling of PEMFC, covering all relevant scales from atomistic up to system level as well as the coupling between these scales. Furthermore, it focuses on the modeling of PEMFC degradation mechanisms and on the coupling between performance and degradation models.

Performance and degradation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: State of the art in modeling from atomistic to system scale

    T. Jahnke, G. Futter, A. Latz, T. Malkow, G. Papakonstantinou, G. Tsotridis, P. Schott, M. Gérard, M. Quinaud, M. Quiroga, A.A. Franco, K. Maleki, F. Calle-Vallejo, R. Ferreira de Morais, T. Kerber, P. Sautet, D. Loffreda, S. Strahl, M. Serra, P. Polverino, C. Pianese, M. Mayur, W.G. Bessler, C. Kompis.

Journal of Power Sources, Volume 304, 1 February 2016, Pages 207–233.

doi:10.1016/j.jpowsour.2015.11.041