Effect of GDL compression on PEMFC performance: A comprehensive cross-scale study
Effect of GDL compression on PEMFC performance: A comprehensive cross-scale study
- Chemical Engineering Journal, 503, 158542., 2025 .
Artículo
The compression of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) can significantly impact the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), but more comprehensive studies are needed on this common experimental phenomenon. This work presented multi-scale numerical simulations and practical fuel cell experiments to analyze the effect of the GDL compression ratio on PEMFC performance. Considering the cross-scale superposition of the gas diffusion backing (GDB) and microporous layer (MPL), the transport properties of GDL under varying compression ratios were evaluated based on three-dimensional (3D) stochastic reconstruction, Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulation, and theoretical formulas for serial transport elements. Moreover, the trends of mass transport resistance (Rmt) and ohmic resistance (Rohm) were investigated through 3D PEMFC numerical models and practical fuel cell tests. The results indicated that compression negatively affected the mass transport in GDL, and the increased tortuosity was the primary cause of heightened gas and water transport resistance. However, compression simultaneously enhanced electrical conductivity due to reduced bulk and contact resistance. Practical test results revealed a trade-off between Rmt and Rohm, which are crucial for optimizing the GDL compression ratio. In this study, a compression ratio of 37.5% could result in performance improvements of 5.4% and 14.3% compared to compression ratios of 25% and 50%, respectively. Finally, a sensitivity analysis demonstrated the acceptable universality of the aforementioned conclusions. This work provides a referable research paradigm for rapidly and cost-effectively optimizing the compression ratio of GDL
PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL
GAS DIFFUSION LAYER
MICROSTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION
LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD
MASS TRANSPORT
Artículo
The compression of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) can significantly impact the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), but more comprehensive studies are needed on this common experimental phenomenon. This work presented multi-scale numerical simulations and practical fuel cell experiments to analyze the effect of the GDL compression ratio on PEMFC performance. Considering the cross-scale superposition of the gas diffusion backing (GDB) and microporous layer (MPL), the transport properties of GDL under varying compression ratios were evaluated based on three-dimensional (3D) stochastic reconstruction, Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) simulation, and theoretical formulas for serial transport elements. Moreover, the trends of mass transport resistance (Rmt) and ohmic resistance (Rohm) were investigated through 3D PEMFC numerical models and practical fuel cell tests. The results indicated that compression negatively affected the mass transport in GDL, and the increased tortuosity was the primary cause of heightened gas and water transport resistance. However, compression simultaneously enhanced electrical conductivity due to reduced bulk and contact resistance. Practical test results revealed a trade-off between Rmt and Rohm, which are crucial for optimizing the GDL compression ratio. In this study, a compression ratio of 37.5% could result in performance improvements of 5.4% and 14.3% compared to compression ratios of 25% and 50%, respectively. Finally, a sensitivity analysis demonstrated the acceptable universality of the aforementioned conclusions. This work provides a referable research paradigm for rapidly and cost-effectively optimizing the compression ratio of GDL
PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL
GAS DIFFUSION LAYER
MICROSTRUCTURE RECONSTRUCTION
LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD
MASS TRANSPORT