An Investigation on Performance of Proton Exchange Membrane and Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Using Taguchi Method

Clean and highly efficient energy development has long been sought to solve energy and environmental crisis. Fuel cells, which convert the chemical energy in fuel directly into electrical energy is the key enabling technology of this century with an excellent long-term electrochemical performance. The future energy source is concerned with two of the most advanced fuel cells – Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) and Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The focus of this work is to develop a mathematical model for investigating the best operating conditions and comparing the performance of PEMFC and DMFC. Significant results of 2D simulations conducted was expected to maximize the fuel cells‟ performance to be used in the transportation sector and portable applications. Two-dimensional fuel cell models were simulated based on physical laws to predict the performance of the cell under various operating conditions. Taguchi‟s method has been used to design experiments to study the effect of fuel and oxidant concentration, reactants‟ flow direction and membrane properties. Validating and running case studies of these models have been made to present a comprehensive viewpoint of modeling. Finally, comparing performance in term of current and power density between PEMFC and DMFC has been performed. PEMFC has better performance compared to DMFC.