A Study on PEMFC Performance and Faults Diagnosis Using FLUENT 3D Models

The performance and faults diagnosis research on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) provide a reliable theoretical and technical support for its commercialization. Meanwhile, PEMFC research based on modeling, which uses the commercial software such as Fluent, SIMULINK etc, affords a theoretical foundation for guiding the experiments and testing the new numerical calculation methods. Hence, based on a single cell 3D (three-dimensional) PEMFC model, the paper studied the performance impacts of physical parameters, such as porosities of GDL, and physical structure, such as the thickness of GDL. Additionally, from the aspect of operating conditions, the cathode gas supply shortage fault is analyzed to study the influence on PEMFC output voltage.