Impact of CO impurity on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Carbon monoxide, as an impurity, absorbs Pt at the anode side of the catalyst layer and restrict oxidation reaction of Hydrogen. As this phenomenon has a destructive effect on the polymer electrolyte membrane fuelcell performance, a 2D model implemented to describe how CO can poison anode catalyst layer. According to this model, an OpenFOAM solver has been written to show poisoning process and behavior of fuel cell underpoisoning condition. The model was validated and polarization curves, coverage fraction of species and carbon monoxide diffusion in the gas channel are presented for some CO concentrations. Results showed how CO contaminant deteriorates cell performance. For instance, in a certain current of 0.8 , 10 ppm carbon monoxide will cause 22.6% more overpotential than fully pure Hydrogen situation

Impact of CO impurity on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells Keywords:

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) , CO poisoning , polarization curve , coverage , OpenFOAM