Thermal Management Analysis of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Filled with Phase Change Material in Cooling Channel

Passive thermal management using a phase-change material (PCM) for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) has been proposed and widely used in the thermal management of Li-ion batteries. A three-dimensional and nonisothermal numerical model of a PEMFC with a PCM cooling channel (PCC) is established in this study. The PCC is better than an air-cooling channel (ACC) in terms of reactant distribution and water removal. Its temperature at the interface of the gas diffusion layer and catalyst layer is lower, and the uniformity of temperature is better. The peak current and power density of the PCC are 4.60% and 5.14% higher than those of the ACC, respectively. Furthermore, the PCC does not increase parasitic power, unlike the ACC. In addition, owing to the high temperature near the outlet, the cooling effects of filling 1/3 PCM and filling 2/3 PCM near the outlet and filling of all PCM are investigated, which shows that the filling of 2/3 PCM provides a better cooling performance.