LAUSR

Abstract In this contribution, the transport processes in the anodic porous transport layer (A-PTL) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis are studied in detail. A spatially distributed model of the transport processes in the A-PTL is derived and implemented, which is able to predict stationary saturation profiles and to detect drying-out behaviour at the anodic catalyst layer. The influence of the material properties on the transport limitations is analysed in order to avoid a drying-out of the system. The analysis showed that a suitable PTL material should have a porosity of e 0 > 0.6 , a permeability of, and a contact angle of θ 45 ∘ . It is also shown that a sufficiently high water saturation in the channel of is crucial for the transport behaviour. Additionally, the bulk material properties of a Ti sintered fibre PTL are determined experimentally ( e 0 = 0.75 , k 0 = 6.4 × 10 − 14 m 2 , θ = 30 ∘ ).