Exergetic performance analysis of a PEM fuel cell

M. Ay, A. Midilli, Ibrahim Dincer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

109 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the effects of thermodynamic irreversibilities on the exergetic performance of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells as a function of cell operating temperature, pressures of anode and cathode, current density, and membrane thickness. The practical operating conditions are selected to be 3-5 atm for anode and cathode pressures, and 323-353K for the cell temperatures, respectively. In addition, the membrane thicknesses are chosen as 0.016, 0.018 and 0.02 cm, respectively. Moreover, the current density range of the PEM fuel cell is selected to be 0.01-2.0 A cm-2. It is concluded that exergy efficiency of PEM fuel cell decreases with a rise in membrane thickness and current density, and increases with a rise of cell operating pressure and with a decrease of current density for the same membrane thickness. Thus, it can be said that, in order to increase the exergetic performance of PEM fuel cell, the lower membrane thickness, the lower current density and the higher cell operating pressure should be selected in case PEM fuel cell is operated at constant cell temperature.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)307-321
Number of pages15
JournalInternational Journal of Energy Research
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Current density
  • Exergy efficiency
  • Membrane thickness
  • PEMFC
  • Pressure
  • Temperature
  • Thermodynamic irreversibility

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