Heat and Mass Transfer Modeling of Dry Gases in the Cathode of PEM Fuel Cells

The transport of three gas species, O2, H2O and N2, through the cathode of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is studied numerically. The diffusion of the individual species is modeled via the Maxwell–Stefan equations, coupled with appropriate conservation equations. Two mechanisms are assumed for the internal energy sources in the system: a volumetric heat source due to the electrical current flowing through the cathode; and heat flow towards the cathode at the cathode-membrane interface due to the exothermic chemical reaction at this interface, in which water is generated. The governing equations of the unsteady fluid motion are written in fully conservative form, and consist of the following: (i) three equations for the mass conservation of the species; (ii) the momentum equation for the mixture, which is approximated using Darcy’s Law for flow in porous media; and (iii) an energy equation, written in a form that has enthalpy as the dependent variable.