Fuel cell stacks and fuel cell systems are complex technical structures in which a wide range of different processes partly influence the stability and lifetime. In fuel cell stacks themselves, the flow control of the reaction media within the individual cell and in the stack is the aim of optimisations by means of flow simulations (Computational Fluid Dynamic CFD). At system level specific system simulations are increasingly being used to improve the efficiency of the overall system. In cooperation with AVL List GmbH, important findings on the interaction of the simulation levels have now been published.
For the professional design of fuel cells and fuel cell systems, software tools can increasingly be used. The objectives of such optimisations can be, for example, to increase efficiency or extend the service life of a product depending on its specific application. In the automotive sector, for example, installation space, weight specifications and dynamic requirements play a central role in order to be able to integrate a fuel cell system into a vehicle at all. In stationary systems, operating costs are dominant as design parameter and thus life cycle requirements and efficiency are more important as target parameters.
As degrees of freedom in the design of such systems and the fuel cell stacks, geometric parameters, usable material as well as media supply and operating strategy are therefore important factors to be considered or adapted.
In project-related cooperation with AVL List GmbH, simulation environments for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as well as for system simulations were used as important tools for the design of fuel cells at the ZBT and were further developed together with AVL. For example, spatially resolved measurements at ZBT enabled conclusions to be drawn about the spatially resolved moisture distribution; findings which have now been incorporated into CFD calculations with the AVL FIRE software environment. The AVL CRUISE M software is used at ZBT for system simulations in combination with a ZBT fuel cell model. This model was also precised and validated especially with regard to performance through the measurements. Overall, the modelling of degradation offers many interesting new aspects for consideration and optimisation with regard to the lifetime of fuel cell systems.
Various aspects of the cooperation, which was carried out in the framework of a joint research project "FC-DIAMOND - PEM Fuel Cell DegradatIon Analysis and MinimizatiON MethoDology Based on Joint Experimental and Simulation Techniques", which was part of the BMVIT/FFG call for proposals "Mobility of the Future, Mobility of the Future, MdZ - 5th Call (2014)", have now been published.
