Articles techniques et présentations

Fuel cells are considered one of the most promising alternatives to conventional energy sources due to their high energy efficiency and only water from the exhaust. Accurate modeling of the fuel cell electrochemistry is crucial to optimize fuel cell performance. In this study, we evaluated the capability of COMSOL Multiphysics software for simulating fuel cell electrochemistry. We used the Fuel Cell & Electrolyzer Module in COMSOL to simulate the electrochemical reaction in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. One of the objectives is to generate a polarization curve, which is a plot of current density versus cell voltage. We compared the polarization curve generated by COMSOL with experimental data from a reference journal. A single channel multi-component gas flow PEM fuel cell model is assumed operating at constant temperature of 80C and product water exists only in vapor form. The COMSOL simulation not only accurately captured the trend of the electrochemical reactions but also correlated well with the discrete experimental data points of polarization curve. In conclusion, this study has shown that COMSOL Multiphysics is an effective tool for accurately simulating fuel cell electrochemistry. The ability to generate accurate polarization curves and be used to study the effect of geometric variations on fuel cell performance with COMSOL will allow researchers to better understand fuel cell behavior and design and optimize fuel cell systems for maximum performance.