Abstract
The comparisons between measured performance of lab-scale PEMFC and calculation were conducted to understand the detail phenomena of PEMFC for the various inlet oxygen humidity of cathode side. Experiments were performed at $65^{\circ}C$ operation temperature and different inlet humidity conditions such as 40%, 60% and 80%. We used the MEA manufactured by oneself which include $Nafion^{(R)}$ 112 membrane, Nafion solution 20%, and carbon paper(E-TEK). As a result of this experiment, cell performance was getting higher by increasing inlet humidity condition at cathode side because ion conductivity of electrolyte membrane is increased. A 3D CFD simulation model of PEMFC was developed using commercially available CFD code that is one of the STAR-CD module, es-pemfc under same operating conditions. Model calculations results were compared with experimental ones on the polarization curves and calculation results are in good agreement with the experimental ones. Local water distribution and current density inside PEMFC are discussed in detail.
