Effects of the Inlet Reactants Temperature Difference between the Anode and Cathode on the Performance of the PEMFC

To study the effects of the reactant inlet temperature difference between anode and cathode on the performance, and determine optimal operating conditions of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the 3D simulation is conducted. Firstly, the related thermal transfer theories of the PEMFC are introduced. Secondly, a 3D simulation methodology is applied to simulate the electrochemical reaction of the PEMFC under different operating conditions by the software of ANSYS Fluent. Finally, the comparisons of the electric potential, H
²
on the anode CL, O
²
on the cathode CL, and MWC are conducted in detail. Moreover, the optimal operating conditions of the PEMFC are obtained by the above comparisons. The results show that the influence of ACT (CCT) on the maximum of EP is rarely compared to that on the minimum, and in the view of EP, the optimal operating condition is 70/30. The consumption of H
²
and O
²
will increase with the increase of CCT (ACT) when the ACT (CCT) is constant. Moreover, the influence of ACT increase on the H
²
consumption is more than that of CCT increase, while the influence of ACT increase on the O
²
consumption is similar to that of CCT increase. In the view of the H
²
and O
²
consumption, and uniformity of H
²
distribution on the anode CL, the optimal operating condition is 30/30, while in the view of the uniformity of O
²
distribution on the cathode CL, the optimal operating condition is 70/70. The MWC will decrease with the increase of the ACT and CCT. Given the uniformity of MWC, the optimal operating condition is also 30/30.