i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3

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3D CFD modeling of a PEM fuel cell stack

J. Macedo-Valencia, J.M. Sierra*, S.J. Figueroa-Ramı́rez, S.E. Dı́az, M. Meza

Facultad de Ingenierı́a, Universidad Aut
onoma del Carmen, Cd. del Carmen, Campeche, C. P. 24115, Mexico

article info abstract

Article history: A single-phase, three-dimensional model has been implemented to simulate the fluid flow,
Received 14 June 2016 heat transfer, electrochemical reaction and species transport in a Proton Exchange Mem-
Received in revised form brane Fuel Cell stack with five single cells including the membrane, gas diffusion layers,
7 October 2016 catalyst layers, flow channels and current collectors. A commercial computational fluid
Accepted 9 October 2016 dynamics (CFD) code, Ansys 15.0®, was used to solve the numerical model. The numerical
Available online 7 November 2016 results showed the detailed distributions of mass fractions of hydrogen and oxygen, as well
as the heat sources and temperature through five membrane electrode assemblies inside
Keywords: the stack. The species concentration always was higher at inlets and it was reduced
Stack modeling gradually along the channels. The lowest temperature was observed at the inlet of the
CFD cathode where oxygen is supplied at temperature of 300 K. Likewise, the heat sources in
PEMFCs PEM fuel cell are tightly related with the current density distributions through membrane
Heat transfer electrodes assembly. Moreover, the results were validated by polarization curves and
experimental data obtained from experiments carried out in a Horizon PEM fuel Cell (H-
100). Furthermore, this model can be used as an important step for improving the stack
design and proposing a new cooling method.
© 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction
The consumption of fossil fuels is dramatically increasing in
the last years due to the industrialization of developing na-
tions and the increment in the world population [1], this sit-
uation have led to the diminishing fossil fuel reserves and the
increment in the level of carbon dioxide resulting in increased
health risks and the global climate change [2,3]. The Fuel cells
(FC's) have emerged as a promising solution to the energy and
environmental problems. These are characterized by their
high conversion efficiency, modularity and zero pollution
[4,5]. Their advantages have made them a leading technology
that can replace the internal combustion engines in trans-
portation and batteries in portable applications [6,7,8]. Among
the several fuel cell types, the proton exchange membrane
(PEM) fuel cell has gained more attention by their low oper-
ating temperature and high efficiency [4,9].
One of the main problems of a fuel cell is the water
generated by the cathode reaction, because it floods the gas
diffusion layer blocking the passage of oxygen to the active
area of the catalyst layer. However, the water is removed by
the air flow and oxygen fed into the cathode. Moreover, a PEM
fuel cell produces an amount of waste heat similar to its
electric power output, thus limiting its energy efficiency to
about 50% [10]. This heat is produced mainly for three reasons:
the electrochemical reactions, ohmic heating and water
condensation.
The use of the CFD allows the study of the physical phe-
nomenon within a fuel cell such as mass, heat and energy
transport, electrode kinetics and potential fields without the
need to build a structure, eliminating the manufacture and

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: jsierra@pampano.unacar.mx (J.M. Sierra).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.10.065
0360-3199/© 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
23426 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3

Fig. 1 e Three dimensional view of the stack and its components.

Sadiq [14] developed a three-dimensional model of a proton

Table 1 e Dimensions of channels.
exchange membrane fuel cell to investigate the displacement,
Parameter Dimensions [mm] deformation, and stresses inside the cell due to the changes of
Width of anode channels 1 temperature and relative humidity. Bladimir et al. [15] pro-
Depth of anode channels 0.4 posed a three-dimensional model to study the performance of
Serpentine turns (6) a single PEM fuel cell using symmetric flow patterns as gas
Width of anode inlet/outlet 2
delivery channels. The results showed that the flow structure
Depth of anode inlet/outlet 0.4
promotes an improved performance from the point of view of
Width of cathode channels 1.6
Depth of cathode channels 1.6 power generation, uniformity of current density, and low
Number of cathode channels (33) pumping power.
Active area (31.2 cm2) Modeling and simulation of PEM fuel cell stack has been
reported in a few papers. Kvesic et al. [16] developed a CFD
model of a five cell short stack in form of a multi-domain and
machining costs. The first modeling study on PEMFCs was multi-scale model. However, the electrochemical equations
carried out by Springer et al. [11]. They developed a 1-dimen- were not applied, the cells acted merely to generate the desired
sional, isothermal and steady state model for prediction of pressure drop. Liu et al. [17] proposed a three-dimensional
fuel cell performance. The authors determined water diffu- model of an air cooling mini fuel cell stack with six cells, in
sivity, electro-osmosis drag coefficient and electrical conduc- which the active area was 8 cm2. The flow fields were simplified
tivity as a function of water content in the membrane. to be porous media. Mustata et al. [18] studied a 3D model of a
Hashemi et al. [12] proposed a three-dimensional model for a
PEMFC with straight and serpentine flow fields. The model
Table 2 e Dimensions of the MEA.
findings revealed that the serpentine flow field shows better
distribution of current density and temperature. Wang and Component Thickness [mm]
Ouyang [13] developed a three-dimensional model for an air- Membrane 180
breathing proton exchange membrane fuel cell using non- Catalyst layer 20
dimensional heat/mass transfer coefficients. Masher and Gas diffusion layer (GDL) 250

Fig. 2 e Flow fields of the computational model: (a) Anode flow pattern, (b) Cathode flow pattern.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3 23427

Table 3 e Governing equations of the fuel cell model.

Governing equations Mathematical expressions
Continuity
vðr!
u Þ vðr! !Þ
v Þ vðrw
þ þ ¼ Sm (1)
vx vy vz
Momentum transport
 !  !  !
vðr!uÞ vðr!uÞ vðr!uÞ vP v vu v vu v vu
u þv þw ¼ þ m þ m þ m þ Spx
vx vy vz vx vx vx vy vy vz vz
 !  !  !
vðr!vÞ vðr!vÞ vðr!vÞ vP v vv v vv v vv
u þv þw ¼ þ m þ m þ m þ Spy (2)
vx vy vz vy vx vx vy vy vz vz
!Þ !Þ !Þ  !  !  !
vðrw vðrw vðrw vP v vw v vw v vw
u þv þw ¼ þ m þ m þ m þ Spz
vx vy vz vz vx vx vy vy vz vz
Energy      
vðrCTÞ vðrCTÞ vðrCTÞ v vT v vT v vT
þv þw ¼ k þ k þ k þ Sh (3)
vx vy vz vx vx vy vy vz vz
Hydrogen transport (anode)      
!
!
!

v ryH2 v ryH2 v ryH2 v J X; H2 v J y; H2 v J z; H2
!
u þ!
v þ!
w ¼ þ þ þ SH2 (4)
vx vy vz vx vy vz
Water transport (anode)



!
!
!

! v ryaW v ryaW v ryaW v J x;aW v J y;aW v J z;aW
u þ!
v þ!
w ¼ þ þ þ SaW (5)
vx vy vz vx vy vz
Oxygen transport (cathode)



!
!
!

! v rY O2 ! v rY O2 ! v rY O2 v J X; O2 v J y; O2 v J z;O2
u þ v þw ¼ þ þ þ SO2 (6)
vx vy vz vx vy vz
Water transport (cathode)
!
!
!

! vðrY cW Þ ! vðrY cW Þ ! vðrY cW Þ v J x;cW v J y;cW v J z;cW
u þ v þw ¼ þ þ þ ScW (7)
vx vy vz vx vy vz
Source terms
Sm ¼ SH2 þ Saw Sm ¼ SO2 þ Scw (8)

m!
u m!v !
mw
Spx ¼  Spy ¼  Spz ¼  (9)
k k k

!
J i ¼ rDi V$yi (10)

Sh ¼ I2 Rohm þ hreact þ hact Ran;ca (11)

MH
SH2 ¼  2 Ran (12)
2F

MH O
Saw ¼  2 Ran (13)
F

MO
SO2 ¼  2 Rca (14)
4F

MH O
Scw ¼  2 Rca (15)
2F
Charge transport
V$ðssol Vfsol Þ þ Rsol ¼ 0 (16)

V$ðsmem Vfmem Þ þ Rmem ¼ 0 (17)

23428 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3

300 W stack with two different of gas income. The Naviere- channels, (4) Isotropic porous zones, (5)Transport of species in
stokes equations were solved in the main collectors and the gas phase, (6) The electrochemical reactions take place on
channels of the plates. The results showed that the approxi- the catalyst layer surface. (7) Non manifold was considered in
mation allow a detailed in-space description of the flow and the PEM fuel cell stack, each membrane electrode assembly or
pressure fields. Mayyas et al. [19] developed a 3D thermal single cell was supplied independently.
model to analyze and predict the thermal performance of an
air cooled PEMFCs. The results showed that the model is
capable of predicting the thermal behavior of the fuel cell Mathematical model
under controlled scheme. Shan and Choe [20] proposed a
highly dynamic PEM fuel cell stack model, which showed an The governing equations used to solve the computational
asymmetrical temperature distributions through the stack, model were discussed in an earlier work reported by the au-
varying dynamically with operating conditions and applied thors [21]. This set of equations listed in Table 3 corresponds
loads. In this regard, a 3D numerical study of heat transfer in a to: the mass conservation, momentum, energy, species and
five cell stack is presented in this work to understand how the the charge transport equations.
temperature is distributed inside the stack. To achieve these The named equations previously are coupled to the elec-
goals the first analysis consisted of studying the temperature trochemical model to calculate the transport phenomena and
variation inside a stack, as well as the temperature distribution reactions that take place inside of PEM fuel cell. The transfer
through the membrane electrode assembly and through each current is calculated by the Butler-Volmer formulation:
cell inside the stack. The second analysis was to identify the
 gan     
main factors affecting the distribution of heat in the fuel cell. H2 aan Fhan aca Fhan
Ran ¼ jref
an exp  exp (18)
H2;ref RT RT

 gca     
Description of the mathematical and O2 aan Fhca aca Fhca
Rca ¼ jref
ca  exp þ exp (19)
computational model O2;ref RT RT

where jref is the exchange current density, H2 y H2,ref, are the

The stack consists of five single cells connected in series. The
local and reference (NTP conditions) species concentrations.
schematic configuration of the simulation domain is shown in
The first term (i) is the concentration at the electrode-
Fig. 1. A serpentine flow pattern is used in the anode plate and
electrolyte interface and [i]ref is the reference or bulk con-
straight channels pattern are located in the cathode part. The
centration; g is the concentration coefficient, a is the transfer
main characteristics of the design are listed in Table 1. Fig. 2
coefficient, h is the activation losses defined in Equations (20)
shows a 3D view of both flow patterns casted on the bipolar
and (21), and F is the Faraday constant (96,487 C mol1).
plate and their dimensions, whose area is 31.2 cm2.
The surface overpotentials of the anode and cathode are
The geometry of the PEM fuel cell stack includes the
related to the potential fields of the solid phase and the
membrane electrodes assembly (MEA), gas diffusion layers,
membrane, 4sol, and 4mem, respectively, and are given by:
and plates. A hexahedral mesh with 16,000,000 elements was
used to solve the computational model. Also a grid indepen- han ¼ 4sol  4mem (20)
dency study was done using three levels of mesh. The results
showed variations around 0.02% relatively to those obtained hca ¼ 4sol  4mem  Voc (21)
with regular mesh. The MEA and the gas diffusion layers are
The membrane properties such as ionic conductivity smem
located between the collectors plates, their dimensions are
and water content l are modeled by the correlations sug-
shown in Table 2.
gested by Springer [11] from Equations (22) and (23), these
properties are calculated as a function of the water activity a:
Boundary conditions
  
1 1
The geometry, mesh and boundary conditions definition was smem ¼ ð0:00514l  0:00326Þexp 1268  (22)
303 T
done using Gambit, after that the mesh was exported to
Fluent. The following boundary conditions were defined as: l ¼ 0:043 þ 17:81a  39:84a2 þ 36a3 ða < 1Þ (23)
inlet (mass flow inlet) and outlet (pressure outlet) zones for
the anode and cathode channels; surfaces (wall type) as cur- l ¼ 14 þ 1:4ða  1Þða > 1Þ:
rent collector of anode and cathode; and continuity between
each component of the MEA and gas diffusion layer (interior). From the governing equations presented in Table 3 and
electrochemical model (Equations (18) and (23)) all transport
Assumptions phenomena are solved in the computational model of a PEM
fuel cell stack.
Transport phenomena occurring inside a PEM fuel cell stack
were modeled by the governing equations of mass conserva- Operating conditions
tion, momentum, energy, species and charge transport (But-
lereVolmer). The assumption considered to carry out the The operation conditions and electrochemical parameters
computational model were the following: (1) Steady state used in the model are listed in Tables 4 and 5, respectively.
conditions, (2) Non-isothermal operation, (3) Laminar flow in Both in the simulation model as in the experiment the same
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3 23429

Table 4 e Operating conditions. Table 6 e Experimental operating conditions.

Parameter Value Ref Parameter Value
Pressure 1 atm [22] Pressure 1 atm
Cell temperature 300 K [22] Cell temperature 300 K
Flow temperature (anode, cathode) 300 K [22] Flow temperature 300 K
Anode mass flow rate 3.42  107 kg s1 [5] Hydrogen flow rate 1.3 L/min
Cathode mass flow rate 3.26  105 kg s1 [5] Air flow rate (supplied by blower) e

model, the authors considered common materials of the PEM

normal operating conditions were used. These operating
fuel cell, like: Nafion membrane 117, carbon paper as gas
conditions were set at flow inlets as well as the outlets. Both
diffusion layer and a catalyst layer of 40% Pt/Vulcan. The
operating conditions as electrochemical parameters corre-
physical properties of these materials may be slightly
spond to common properties of the components of the PEM
different to experimental fuel cell. Also, the consideration of
fuel cell. These parameters were obtained from previous
single phase in the model lead to higher predicted fuel cell
studies reported by authors [21,22], only the mass flow
performance, however the calculated values agree with the
rates were calculated using the equations reported in the
experimental results with a relative error of 1.3%. It is also
literature [5].
important to mention that the horizon fuel cell is sealed be-
tween plates and membrane electrodes assembly. The hori-
Solution method
zon fuel cell was never open or broken to verify the type of
flow field.
The model was solved with ANSYS/Fluent software. A work-
station with Intel Xeon X5660 2.80 GHz processor and 48 GB
Concentration distribution of reactants
RAM was used to perform the calculations. Each simulation
converged after around 850 iterations and took around 24 h for
The 3D model enables the prediction of the distribution and
each case.
visualization of various parameters influencing the stack
behavior, such as species concentration. These parameters
change with the voltage variation, therefore, contours for two
Results and discussion
values of voltage are presented. Figs. 4 and 5 show the mass
fraction distribution of hydrogen (anode) and oxygen (cath-
In order to verify the model developed in this study, the
ode) respectively in the stack for the potential of 0.6 V and
simulation results were compared with experimental data
0.8 V for each fuel cell. As observed in the anode catalyst layer,
obtained previously. Table 6 shows the experimental oper-
the concentration of hydrogen changes along the channels for
ating conditions used in the Horizon PEM fuel cell stack (H-
low voltage values, at higher current values more hydrogen is
100), the experiment was conducted at normal operating
consumed. In addition, hydrogen concentration increases in
conditions in the energy laboratory at Autonomous Carmen's
the left side of the stack, where the oxygen inlet is located.
University. The hydrogen flow rate was supplied to the stack
Also a hot spot in the left corner near the outlet is observed.
according to the information provided by supplier.
The oxygen concentration (Fig. 5) decreases gradually from
Fig. 3 represents the comparison between the experi-
inlet to outlet of channels due to consumption of species in
mental data and the model results through the polarization
the electrochemical reaction. Additionally, for lower voltage
curve (The voltage is averaged over the five cells). The differ-
values (0.6 V), oxygen concentration decreases along the
ences between experimental and numerical data could be
channels due to a higher reaction rates, nevertheless, the
attributed to properties of the components. For simulation
distribution contours are more uniformed for higher values
(0.8 V).
Table 5 e Electrochemical parameters.
Property Value Ref
2
Ref. Current density (anode) 7500 A/m [25]
Ref. Current density (cathode) 20 A/m2 [25]
Transfer coefficient (anode) 2 [21]
Transfer coefficient (cathode) 2 [21]
Hydrogen reference diffusivity 1.1  104 m2 s1 [23]
Oxygen reference diffusivity 3.2  105 m2 s1 [23]
Water reference diffusivity 7.35  105 m2 s1 [23]
Nitrogen reference diffusivity 8  105 m2 s1 [24]
Concentration exp. (anode) 0.5 [21]
Concentration exp. (cathode) 1 [21]
GDL porosity 0.4 [21]
GDL viscous resistance 1  1012 m2 [21]
Catalyst layer porosity 0.2 [21]
Catalyst layer viscous resistance 4  1012 m2 [21] Fig. 3 e Validation of the numerical code with
Open circuit voltage 0.95 V [24]
experimental data.
23430 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3

Fig. 4 e Concentration distribution of hydrogen in the PEMFC stack with serpentine multi channels for a) 0.6 V, b) 0.8 V.

Fig. 5 e Concentration distribution of oxygen in the PEMFC stack with straight channels for a) 0.6 V, b) 0.8 V.

Fig. 6 e Temperature distribution in the PEMFC stack with cross sectional planes [K] for a) 0.6 V, b) 0.8 V.

Temperature distribution Additionally, the temperature distribution decreases from

inside to the outside walls which were set at ambient tem-
Fig. 6 shows the temperature distributions in overall stack. perature, variations between 9 and 10 K could be observed
The lowest temperature could be observed at the inlet of the from the center of the stack and the top/bottom. The tem-
cathode where oxygen is supplied at temperature of 300 K. perature distribution is more uniform for higher values of
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3 23431

Fig. 7 e Reaction heat source distribution in the PEMFC stack [W m¡3] for a) 0.6 V, b) 0.8 V.

Fig. 8 e Ohmic heat source distribution in the PEMFC stack [W m¡3] for a) 0.6 V, b) 0.8 V.

Fig. 9 e Current density distribution in the PEMFC stack [A m¡2] for a) 0.6 V, b) 0.8 V.

voltage. In addition, it could be observed that highest tem-
perature was presented in the catalyst layers due to the
electrochemical reaction and ohmic heating.
Heat in a PEM fuel cell is produced mainly for two reasons,
such as electrochemical reactions and ohmic heating. Figs. 7
and 8 show the reaction heat source and the ohmic heat
source respectively. The behavior of both contours match
with the temperature variation across each cell and the stack.
In large stacks, heat conduction is insufficient to remove the
excess of heat; therefore, the incorporation of cooling method
or the proposal of a new design are necessary to maintain the
optimal temperature inside the stack.
23432 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3
Current density distribution
Fig. 9 shows the current density contours at anode gas diffu-
sion layer for five membrane electrodes assemblies. The po-
tentials fixed were the same as in other cases, 0.6 V and 0.8 V.
In the distribution contours it is observed that higher values of
current density are presented at the ribs, near to oxygen
outlet. This happens because the membrane is well hydrated,
so the ionic exchange is better and the electrochemical re-
actions are favored. Also, the pattern of current density dis-
tribution is similar to ohmic heating distribution, which
explains the heating at these zones.
Conclusions
In this study, a three-dimensional, single-phase PEM fuel cell
stack model was developed using CFD commercial code. Nu-
merical simulations were conducted for a stack with five
single cells connected in series. The numerical results showed
that the model could predict the temperature variation, as
well the temperature distribution through the membrane
electrode assembly and through each cell inside the stack. In
this case, the higher temperature values are shown at ribs of
the cathode and near to the outlet flow of the cathode, and the
lower temperature values are shown at the inlet. Contours of
the reaction heat source and the ohmic heat source were also
presented. This model is an important step for further devel-
opment of the stack design and the flow field of a PEM fuel cell
stack.
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges to Universidad

noma del Carmen for the granted support to perform the
Auto
numerical simulations in their computing equipment and the
use of Ansys-Fluent 15.0 software license. In addition, the
authors acknowledge the support given by Red Tema
tica
PRODEP 2015 for the purchase of materials used in this work.
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Nomenclature
A: Area, cm2
Di: Diffusivity of the i species, m2 s1
F: Faraday constant, 96,487 C mol1
I: Current density, A cm2
ji: Diffusion mass flux of the i species, kg m2 s1
jk : Reference exchange current density in the stream k, A m3
ref
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 1 ( 2 0 1 6 ) 2 3 4 2 5 e2 3 4 3 3 23433

Mi: Molecular weight of the i species, kg kmol1 h: over-potential, V

nd: Electroosmotic drag l: Water content
P: Total pressure, atm ??: Dynamic viscosity, kg s1 m1
Q: Volumetric flow rate, m3 s1 r: Density, kg m3
R: Universal gas constant, 8.314 J mol1 K1 s: Electric/ionic conductivity, U1 m1
Rohm: Ohmic resistance, A cm2 x: Cartesian direction x, y, z
Ran: Exchange current density of anode, A m3 z: Stoichiometric flow rate
Rca: Exchange current density of cathode, A m3 hact: Activation loss, V
T: Temperature, K
u, v, w: Velocity component, ms1 Subscripts/superscripts
Xi: Molar fraction of the i species
Yi: Mass fraction of the i species an: Anode
S: Source term, kg s1 m3 ca: Cathode
sol: Solid phase for electric conductors
Greek symbols mem: Membrane phase for ionic conductors
in: Inlet
a: Transfer coefficient k: Anode or cathode
b: Permeability, m2 MEA: Membrane electrode assembly
ε: Porosity mem: Membrane
fk: Potential field in the k interface, V sat: Saturation
g: Concentration coefficient