Optimization of Membrane Electrode Assemblies for PEMFC

Abstract

In the last decade, increasing concerns about global warming, air pollution in largely populated areas and energy security have emerged due to the dependance of the automotive and energy sectors on fossil fuels. In response to these concerns, fuel cells and, in particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) have emerged as a good candidate to replace the current fossil fueled energy conversion devices such as the internal combustion engines because of its ability to run on non-hydrocarbon based fuels and to power a vehicle producing only water vapor emissions. The success of PEMFC as the next energy conversion device will depend on the advances made in the next decade in PEMFC design and, therefore, much research in this area is needed. However, PEMFC design is not simple because their performance depends on a large number of coupled physical phenomena such as fluid flow, heat, mass and charge transport and electrochemistry. These coupled processes are controlled by a large number of physical ∗PhD Candidate, Institute of Integrated Energy Systems and Mechanical Engineering Department, [email protected], AIAA Student Member †Professor, Institute of Integrated Energy Systems and Mechanical Engineering Department, [email protected] ‡Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, [email protected], AIAA Associate Fellow