Modeling and analysis of effects of purging process on the performance of PEM fuel cells

Abstract

Given that oil reserves are finite, it can be expected that someday not far away that the oil will eventually wane and finally disappear. It is just a matter of time before this problem arises and people will be forced to seek for alternative sources. As such a growing concern has been put on energy crises and more and more effort are taken into the researching of green energy to meet the increasing demand for energy while causing no more environmental issues.

This project focuses on Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell.A simplified fuel cell model is first developed to simulate a power generation process in PEM fuel cell, analyzing how performance of fuel cell is affected by certain parameters. Then an improved double layer model is proposed to improve the efficiency of PEM fuel cell. Lastly a model is also addressed to simulate the purging process during the operation of PEM fuel cell to establish a relationship between purging process and output voltage of PEM fuel cell.