Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 785787

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Electrochimica Acta
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/electacta

Discussion

Analytical solution of the charge conservation equation for fuel cells

by Galerkin method: Comments on On the interchangeability of
potentiostatic and galvanostatic boundary conditions for fuel cells
by A.K. Sharma, E. Birgersson, M. Vynnycky, H. Ly
[Electrochim. Acta 109 (2013) 617622]
Ji-Huan He a, , Hong-Yan Liu b, , Lu-Feng Mo c,d
a

National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, College of Textile and Clothing Engineering, Soochow University, 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China
School of Fashion Technology, Zhongyuan University of Technology, Zhengzhou 450007, China
Nantong Textile Institute, Soochow University, 58 Chong Chuan Road, Nantong, China
d
School of Information Engineering, Zhejiang A&F University, Linan 311300, China
b
c

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 28 August 2013
Received in revised form 4 October 2013
Accepted 7 October 2013
Available online 25 October 2013
Keywords:
Fuel cell
Charge conservation
Method of separation of variables
Galerkin method
Analytical solution
Electrospinning

a b s t r a c t
This paper studies the charge conservation equation in the modeling of fuel cells. It is often useful to have
an approximate closed form solution to describe the electronic potential in the whole solution domain.
In our problem, no small term exists and the perturbation method cannot be used for this purpose.
This paper proposes a simple analytical approach by using the method of separation of variables and
Galerkin technology, and an analytical solution is obtained, which is valid for the whole solution domain
and outlines the effects of most important operating, geometrical and material parameters on electronic
potential.
2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Sharma et al. [1] studied the boundary conditions for the charge
conservation equation in the modeling of fuel cells by introducing an interchangeability number, which captures the relevant
operating, geometrical and material parameters. In this paper
we suggest a simple analytical approach to the same problem
in [1].
Considering a steady-state conservation of charge for a slender two-dimensional rectangle that occupies 0 x L, h y 0
and is subject to insulating BCs at x = 0 and L, a galvanostatic BC
at y = 0 and a prescribed current density distribution at y = h, we

Corresponding author at: National Engineering Laboratory for Modern Silk, Soochow University, 199 Ren-Ai Road, Suzhou 215123, China. Tel.: +86 139 1315 2427;
fax: +86 512 6588 4633.
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: hejihuan@suda.edu.cn (J.-H. He), phdliuhongyan@gmail.com
(H.-Y. Liu).
0013-4686/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2013.10.070

have the following governing equation and boundary conditions

[1]:
xx + yy = 0

(1)

x (0, y) = 0

(2)

x (L, y) = 0

(3)

y (x, 0) = iapp

(4)

y (x, h) = I(x)

(5)

(0, 0) = E0

(6)

Here i is the current density, is the electronic potential, h is the

thickness, L is the length, iapp is the applied current density,  is the
electronic conductivity, E0 is the potential at (x,y) = (0,0), and I(x) is

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J.-H. He et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 785787

an arbitrary current density distribution that is constrained by the

integral

1
L

I(x)dx = iapp

(7)

Solving Eq. (13) with the boundary conditions, Eqs. (16) and (17),
we can immediately obtain
u(y) =

30iapp

2. Analytical approach

(x, y) =

The problem under study has no small term and the perturbation
method can not be used for this purpose. Though we can use = h/L
as a small parameter, the perturbation solution often deteriorates
quickly as increases. Consequently, if we are really determined to
extract meaning from analytic formulations of a chemical process,
we must resort to amelioration of the analytical solutions using the
method of separation of variables and Galerkin method.
Using the method of separation of variables, we assume that the
electronic potential can be approximately expressed as
(x, y) = x2 (x L)2 u(y) + E0 = (x4 2Lx3 + L2 x2 )u(y) + E0

(8)

where u(y) is an unknown function to be further determined, and

u(0) = 0.
It is obvious that Eq. (8) satises the insulating boundary conditions at x = 0 (Eqs. (2) and (3)) and the potential at (x,y) = (0,0), i.e.,
Eq. (6). In view of Eq. (8), the galvanostatic boundary condition (Eq.
(4)) and the prescribed current density distribution (Eq. (5)) reduce
to the forms
y (x, 0) = (x4 2Lx3 + L2 x2 )u (0) = iapp
3

2 2

(18)

We, therefore, obtain the needed solution for electronic potential:

so as to conserve current globally.

L4

30iapp
L4

x2 (x L)2 y + E0

For comparison, we write down the result given in Ref. [1]:

2  1 cos(nx) cosh(ny)

n sinh(n)

(
x, y ) = y +

n=1

I (s) cos(ns)ds

where the dimensionless variables are dened as

x =

x
,
L

y =

y
,
h

E0
,


(10)

(12x2 12Lx + 2L2 )u(y) + 2(4x3 6Lx2 + 2L2 x)u (y)

+ (x4 2Lx3 + L2 x2 )u (y) = 0

(11)

{(12x2 12Lx + 2L2 )u(y) + 2(4x3 6Lx2 + 2L2 x)u (y)

2 2

h
.
L

This paper studies the charge transport in a two-dimensional

electric conductor representing a bipolar plate/current collector
in a fuel cell, and an analytical solution is obtained. The present
approach is of great simplicity with relatively high accuracy. If a
higher accurate solution is needed, we can assume the solution has
the form



+ (x 2Lx + L x )u (y)}dx = 0

(x, y) = x (x L)

1+

M


aN x

u(y) + E0

(21)

N=1

where aN can be identied by boundary conditions.

0
3

I
,
iapp

This expression is too complicated to give a direct answer to

the most practical questions about the potential distribution, such
as where is the maximal potential? By contrast, the approximate
solution, Eq. (19), answers this question directly. When x = L/2 the
potential reaches its maximum and its decreases with the y axial.

We use Galerkin technology [2] to simplify Eq. (11) as follows

I =

3. Discussion

Substituting Eq. (8) into Eq. (1) results in

(20)

(9)

y (x, h) = (x 2Lx + L x )u (h) = I(x)

(19)

(12)
4. Conclusion

From Eq. (12) we obtain



u (y) = 0

(13)

Applying Galerkin technology [2] to Eqs. (9) and (10)

L
4

2 2

{(x 2Lx + L x )u (0)}dx =

0

and
1
L

(14)

iapp dx
0

{(x4 2Lx3 + L2 x2 )u (h)}dx =

1
L

I(x)dx = iapp

(15)

Acknowledgments

We obtain the boundary conditions for Eq. (13), they are

u (0) =

30iapp
L4

u (h) =

30iapp
L4

The present work is especially suitable for fuel cell with a

nanocomposite electrode, which is generally produced by electrospinning [35]. The obtained solution is valid for the whole solution
domain, and can be used for optimal design of fuel cell. Furthermore the coefcient, iapp /L4 , in Eq. (19) has a similar property as
the interchangeability number in Ref. [1], that can be used as an
factor reecting the effects of most important operating, geometrical and material parameters on electronic potential. The present
method is valid regardless of galvanostatic or potentiostatic boundary conditions.

(16)

(17)

The work is supported by Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD), National
Natural Science Foundation of China under grant No. 61303236 and
No. 11372205 and Project for Six Kinds of Top Talents in Jiangsu
Province under grant No. ZBZZ-035, Science & Technology Pillar
Program of Jiangsu Province under grant No. BE2013072.

J.-H. He et al. / Electrochimica Acta 114 (2013) 785787

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