Parametric sensitivity analysis of PEM fuel cell electrochemical Model

In order to obtain an adequate PEM Fuel Cell model, it is necessary to define the values for a specific group of modeling parameters. The disagreements between the experimental and simulation results arise because of uncertainties stemming not only from the experimental measurements, but also from the modeling parameters used in the theoretical calculations. The modeling parameters were analyzed using Multi-Parametric Sensitivity Analysis (MPSA). This paper presents a sensitivity investigation of PEMFC electrochemical models and aims to determine the relative importance of each parameter on the modeling results. A computer program is written in Dev-cpp environment to calculate the sensitivity index for each parameter. As a result, the parameters were classified according to their influence in the modeling results as: insensitive, sensitive and highly sensitive. Thus it is possible to evaluate the relative importance of each parameter to the simulation accuracy. The present work benefits to understand the most effecting parameters, thus it helps the manufacturer to be more cautious in defining the exact value for them. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.