2.2 DeMaPEM: Development and Marketing of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells for Transport Applications

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In the project DeMaPEM, we develop and market computational solutions of proton exchange membrane fuel cells for transport applications: a 1-D parameterized model of membrane electrode assembly and a 3-D single cell model. The goal is a faster and more cost-efficient product development in the fuel cell supply chain. Marketing of the models is accomplished via isomorph.ch.

Contributors: Partner(s): Funding: Duration: J. O. Schumacher, O. Ilie, R. Herrendörfer Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE 2019–2021

In the framework of the Swiss Federal Council’s Energy Strategy 2050, the Swiss Federal Assembly has passed a total revision of the energy act, demanding drastically reduced CO2 emissions for private and commercial road vehicles. Our vision is to contribute to reaching this ambitious goal by pushing the advent of fuel cell technology as a competitive and zero-emission electrical power supply. Lowtemperature polymer exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have the potential to replace fossil fuels by pure hydrogen, thus leading to a substantial decarbonization of the transport sector. membrane dries out due to the increasing electroosmotic drag (Figure 3 a-d).

The goal of this project is to allow the ICP to participate in the international value chain of fuel cell powered transport applications. We develop and market computational solutions that are tailored to the needs of companies and research institutes. The focus is put on membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) and single cell PEMFCs. Our computational solutions in this project, a 1D parameterized MEA model and 3D single cell model (3D-SCM) of a PEMFC, aim for a faster and more cost-efficient product development in the fuel cell supply chain. These solutions are announced on isomorph.ch to make them visible for possible industrial partners. The 3D-SCM includes gas flow channel plates and a MEA (Figure 1). We aim to improve the macroscopic description of liquid water transport at the interface between gas diffusion layer and gas channels. This is important especially high current densities, where water is produced in the cathode catalyst layer.

Figure 3: Model setup of the 3D-SCM.

Figure 2 (a): Temperature distribution at 0.025 V cell voltage, (b) heat flux in anode and cathode bipolar plate with increasing current density.

The 3D-SCM allows to analyze the water and heat management of the cell, including the temperature distribution (Figure 2) and membrane water content in relation to the gas channels and ribs. With increasing current density, the anode side of the

Figure 3: Membrane water content at 4 different cell voltages.