Numerical Comparison of the Polarization Curve Contributions and Simulation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

This paper addresses the review and the numerical comparison of different state-of-the-art methods for the steady-state calculation of the polarization curve in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs). The main available methods to model the different losses contribution affecting the fuel cell output voltage are described, and their performances are compared in detail in order to draw important conclusions about the best-performing simulation model to implement. A sensitivity analysis of the polarization curve to different parameters is then performed, followed by the verification of the conclusions obtained in terms of best-performing method to compute the polarization curve in a dynamic scenario as well.