Large-scale DMFC Stack Model: Feed Disturbances and Their Impact on Stack Performance

A highly scalable quasi-3D model of a large 1-kW class direct methanol fuel cell stack is developed. The model takes into account in-plane heat and current transport in the bipolar plates, coupled to the through-plane transport in the membrane-electrode assemblies. The electro chemical model is an extension of a PerryNewmanCairns model with the ButlerVolmer rate of electrochemical conversion. The stack is cut into a large number of elementary geometrical units and each unit is solved on a separate core using supercomputing resources. The model is used to simulate the regimes of stack operation with methanol flow failures in part of the cell. The results show that the full-fed domain of the cell takes over part of the load of the starved domain, which homogenizes the distribution of all parameters over the defect cell surface.