The project DeMaPEM aimed at the development and marketing of numerical models of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for transport solutions. We have created 2-D and 3-D single cell models to simulate the evaporative water removal from the PEMFC. In a first study, we simulated ex-situ experiments of evaporation in gas diffusion layers of PEMFCs. In a second study, we analyzed the water and heat transport in evaporative cooling cells. Cooperation with the PSI in both studies allowed us to compare our simulation results to experimental data and to improve our modeling method. Results showed the impact of operating conditions and carrier gas species on the evaporation rate and provided insights into the transport of water vapor. Furthermore, we demonstrated the importance to account for the heat transport to avoid overestimating evaporation rates. In this final report, we also document our progress in the preparation of the Swiss spin-off company named Isomorph. Therefore, we have developed a new website and web services of isomorph.ch to market computational solutions for two different electrochemical flow cell types, that is PEMFCs and redox flow batteries. For these flow cell types, we worked out costumer-oriented product and service descriptions. Furthermore, we wrote a first version of a business plan. Some models with generic parameterisations were made available to.
Herrendörfer, R.; Cochet, M.; Schumacher, J.O. Simulation of Mass and Heat Transfer in an Evaporatively Cooled PEM Fuel Cell. Energies 2022, 15, 2734. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15082734
Mularczyk, A.; Michalski, A.; Striednig, M.; Herrendörfer, R.; Schmidt, T.J.; Büchi, F.N.; Eller, J. Mass Transport Limitations of Water Evaporation in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Gas Diffusion Layers. Energies 2021, 14, 2967. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14102967