Investigation of the Limiting Processes of a DMFC by Mathematical Modeling

✍ Scribed by A. Siebke; W. Schnurnberger; F. Meier; G. Eigenberger

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 277 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1615-6846
• DOI: 10.1002/fuce.200320210

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Since measured current‐voltage curves do not allow conclusions concerning the limiting processes in a direct methanol fuel cell, a detailed mathematical model was developed to quantify the influence of individual physical and electrochemical effects on overall cell performance. Results of numerical simulations given here show good agreement with experimental current‐voltage curves for various operating conditions. According to simulation results, the limiting electrode depends strongly on operating conditions: when the temperature is increased or the cathode gas is switched from oxygen to air, the limitation in current density is shifted from anode to cathode. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that there is only a small range of operating conditions between drying out and flooding of the cathode.