dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaThe Autohumidification Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell
| Authors | J. B. Benziger, J. Moxley, S. Tulyani, A. Turner, A. B. Bocarsly, Y. G. Kevrekidis |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0306125 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0306125 |
Abstract
A PEM fuel cell was specially constructed to determine kinetics under conditions of well-defined gas phase composition and cell temperature. Steady state multiplicity was discovered in the autohumidification PEM fuel cell, resulting from a balance between water production and water removal. Ignition was observed in the PEM fuel cell for a critical water activity of about 0.1. Ignition is a consequence of the exponential increase of proton conductivity with water activity, which creates an autocatalytic feedback between the water production and the proton conduction. The steady state current in the ignited state decreases with increasing temperature between 50 to 105 deg C. At temperatures greater than 70 deg C five steady states were observed in the PEM fuel cell. The steady state performance has been followed with variable load resistance and hysteresis loops have been mapped. The dynamics of transitions between steady states are slow about 10^3 to 10^4 s. These slow dynamics are suggested to result from a coupling of mechanical and chemical properties of the membrane electrode assembly due to swelling of the membrane with water absorption.
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"abstract": "A PEM fuel cell was specially constructed to determine kinetics under\nconditions of well-defined gas phase composition and cell temperature. Steady\nstate multiplicity was discovered in the autohumidification PEM fuel cell,\nresulting from a balance between water production and water removal. Ignition\nwas observed in the PEM fuel cell for a critical water activity of about 0.1.\nIgnition is a consequence of the exponential increase of proton conductivity\nwith water activity, which creates an autocatalytic feedback between the water\nproduction and the proton conduction. The steady state current in the ignited\nstate decreases with increasing temperature between 50 to 105 deg C. At\ntemperatures greater than 70 deg C five steady states were observed in the PEM\nfuel cell. The steady state performance has been followed with variable load\nresistance and hysteresis loops have been mapped. The dynamics of transitions\nbetween steady states are slow about 10^3 to 10^4 s. These slow dynamics are\nsuggested to result from a coupling of mechanical and chemical properties of\nthe membrane electrode assembly due to swelling of the membrane with water\nabsorption.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0306125",
"authors": [
"J. B. Benziger",
"J. Moxley",
"S. Tulyani",
"A. Turner",
"A. B. Bocarsly",
"Y. G. Kevrekidis"
],
"categories": [
"physics.chem-ph"
],
"title": "The Autohumidification Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0306125"
},
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