Dynamic analysis of gas transport in cathode side of PEM fuel cell with interdigitated flow field

The dynamic performance of PEM fuel cell is one of the most important criteria in its design with application to mobile systems and portable devices. To analyze the features, this work employs an unsteady model about single phase transport in cathode side of PEM fuel cell with interdigitated flow field, which considers both convection and diffusion processes. Two types of dynamic performances, start-up and state-to-state operations, are analyzed. The effects of channel width fraction, porosity of the gas diffusion layer, pressure drop and the surface overpotential of the catalyst layer on the dynamic performance are investigated in detail. Predicted results found that the response time is generally quite fast, less than 0.1 s, to reach the 90% response. The time interval from the start-up to a steady state or from one steady state to another steady state mainly depends on the end condition.