Modeling and Analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Cold-Start

In this paper, we develop a model to investigate the cold-start operation of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The model describes the electrochemical kinetics, heat/mass transport, and solid water formation in polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) during cold start. A simplified analysis is developed to investigate the temperature-dependent change of the ohmic voltage loss based on the ionic conductivity of the membrane at subfreezing temperature. 3D numerical simulation is also conducted to study the dynamics of the solid water during cold start and the distributions of ice volume fraction and current density. This study is valuable for improving the characteristics of PEFC cold-start.