Development of Semi-Empirical Model for Direct Methanol Polymer Membrane Fuel Cell

초록

A new semi-empirical model is established to describe the cell voltage of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) as a function of current density. The proposed model focuses on very unfavorable conditions for the cell operation, i.e. low methanol solution concentrations and relatively low cell temperatures. They, however, have not accurate term of kinetics. The proposed model equation takes into account new contribution which represents the kinetic effect. A newly developed semi-empirical equation, includes the methanol crossover effect that plays a major role in determining the cell voltage of DMFC. Also, it contains new contributioin based on thermodynamic functions to represent methanol crossover. The model equation is validated experimental data over a wide range of a methanol concentration and temperatures.