Simulation of PEM fuel cells: validation of model and incorporation of humidity dynamics

Fuel cell technologies have been receiving increased attention by industry and researchers due to growing societal and inevitable economic pressures to find an alternative for fossil fuels. At the forefront of this is the demand for fuel cell models: models to elucidate fundamental physical phenomena underlying fuel cell function and models that are not computationally demanding yet reasonably accurate to allow designers to incorporate fuel cells into consumer products. One of the latter type has recently been developed based on a software package that is already in widespread use in the automotive industry for the simulation of mechanical, thermal, electrical, and control systems of internal combustion engines and whole vehicle systems, and a functional proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell model implemented in that package would help speed the design cycle of fuel cell and hybrid powered vehicles. The objective of this study was to analyze and test this model against independent experimental data available in the literature. Additional elements were then developed and integrated with the model to increase its predictive capabilities by enabling it to account for the effects of relative humidity and changes in temperature and pressure on the performance of fuel cells. This remedied observed deficiencies of the original model and allowed for more accurate simulations of variable fuel cell operating conditions --Abstract, page iii