Experimental study on the endplate effect on the cold-start performance of an open-cathode air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

The temperature gradient inside an open-cathode air-cooled fuel cell is large because it uses air as its reaction and cooling media; moreover, the temperature of single cells near the endplates is low because of the high heat capacity of the endplate compared to single cells. Therefore, the cold start of open-cathode air-cooled fuel cells is difficult. In this work, the cold-start performance of an open-cathode air-cooled fuel cell stack, including the stack voltage, single-cell voltage and temperature distribution, are tested in a climatic chamber. The results show that the endplate effect has a significant adverse influence on the cold-start performance. Due to the existence of the endplate effect, the voltages of the single cells near the endplate decrease significantly. The stack can be successfully started at −5 °C without any external heating; however, when the temperature decreases below −10 °C, it cannot be started. At this time, if a certain power of endplate heating is adopted, successful cold-start can be achieved. However, if the temperature continues to decrease, the stack cannot be successfully started only through endplate heating because both the endplates and cold air affect the cold-start performance. Combining endplate and air heating may be a feasible cold-start method.     

Dynamic performance for a kW-grade air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

In this study, a kW-grade air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack with a dead-end anode (DEA) operation is designed and manufactured. The gravity-assisted drainage principle is applied for the stack to design the wettability of gas diffusion layers (GDLs) and the anode channel geometry, which can help the liquid water that diffuses to the anode to drain out of the anode porous electrode and move down the anode channel outlets. As a result, the stack can stably operate in a long purge interval of 268 s and in a short purge time of 2 s. In addition, using this design, only four small-power fans are employed to pump air to the cathode to provide oxygen for the electrochemical reaction and cool the stack. With a constant load current of 30, 45, or 60 A, the stack output voltage is experimentally tested at various cathode air flow rates (CAFRs). The local temperatures (60 measurement points) inside the stack and the pressure differences across anode channels are also monitored to understand heat dissipation and the back diffusion of liquid water. In a wide range of operating conditions, the designed stack possesses superior and stable voltage output characteristics with relatively uniform temperature distributions. The measured maximum output power is 3.83 kW, and the parasitic powers of fans are only 80～112 W.     

Experimental investigation of the thermal response of open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack

The aim of this study is to investigate the thermal response characteristics of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack. In order to find out the regularities of temperature variation under rapidly increasing load change, a home-made 500 W open-cathode stack embedded with 30 thermocouples was made and tested. The result shows that the local temperature dominates the thermal response at the initial stage while the membrane hydration is the crucial impact factor at low power stage. Further, the anode flooding strongly affects the stability of the output performance and the change of temperature at the overloaded stage. The maximum temperature difference within one cell can reach a steady state faster than that of the temperature. At normal operation, there is little difference between the defined surfaces. The exergy analysis shows that the reaction air will have higher exergy if the temperature variation is more smooth. This experimental study contributes to the optimization of the cooling strategy and thermal management of the open-cathode stack in application.     

Thermal coupling of an open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell with metal hydride canisters: An experimental study

In this paper, the impacts of utilising the heat generated by a 2.5-kW open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) on enhancing the hydrogen release rate of nine 800 NL AB₅ metal hydride (MH) canisters were experimentally investigated. Thermal coupling of MH canisters with PEMFC offers a potential to improve the hydrogen discharge rate of MH canisters by utilising its waste heat. However, the added complexity for implementing this idea remains to be a barrier. Open-cathode fuel cells with hot air exiting the cathode side offer an opportunity to simplify its thermal coupling arrangement with MH canisters. The set-up was designed with minimum added parts with just a ducting system to direct the hot exit air from the fuel cell passing over the MH canisters. The experimental results showed that the heat required by the MH canisters to supply enough hydrogen to the fuel cell at 500 W, 1000 W and 2000 W operating points accounts for around 40%, 36.5%, and 32% of the total heat removal from the stack, respectively. The arrangement proved to be feasible for serving its purpose and could eliminate the need for oversizing the MH hydrogen storage system that is normally practised to guarantee the right rate of hydrogen supply at higher power outputs.     

Numerical studies on an air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack

Air-breathing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells provide for fully or partially passive operation and have gained much interest in the past decade, as part of the efforts to reduce the system complexity. This paper presents a detailed physics-based numerical analysis of the transport and electrochemical phenomena involved in the operation of a stack consisting of an array of vertically oriented air-breathing fuel cells. A comprehensive two-dimensional, nonisothermal, multi-component numerical model with pressurized hydrogen supply at the anode and natural convection air supply at the cathode is developed and validated with experimental data. Systematic parametric studies are performed to investigate the effects of cell dimensions, inter-cell spacing and the gap between the array and the substrate on the performance of the stack. Temperature and species distributions and flow patterns are presented to elucidate the coupled multiphysics phenomena. The analysis is used to determine optimum stack designs based on constraints on desired performance and overall stack size.     

Externally cooled high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack

One key issue in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) stack development is heat removal at the operating temperature of 140–180 °C. Conventionally, this process is done using coolants such as thermooil, steam or pressurized water. In this contribution, external liquid cooling designs are described, which are avoiding two constraints. First, in the cell active area, no liquid coolant is present avoiding any sealing problems with respect to the electrode. Secondly, the external positioning allows high temperature gradients between the heat removal zone and the active area resulting in a good adjustability of appropriate reformate conversion temperatures (e.g. 160 °C) and a more compact cell design. Different design concepts were investigated using modeling techniques and a selection of them has also been investigated experimentally. The experiments proved the feasibility of the external cooling design and showed that the temperature gradients within the active area are below 15 K under typical operating conditions.     

An investigation of characteristic parameter variations of the polarization curve of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack under strengthened road vibrating conditions

The characteristic of the polarization curve and the parameter variations of open circuit voltage V₀, Tafel slope b and ohmic resistance R in the curve are experimentally investigated through a 150 h strengthened vibration test in this paper, to analyse the steady-state performance of the fuel cell stack under long-term vibrating conditions on strengthened roads. The load spectra applied in the test are simulated by the acceleration signals of the fuel cell stack, which are previously measured in a vehicle vibration test. The load signals of the vehicle vibration test are iterated through a road simulator from vehicle acceleration signals which are originally sampled in the strengthened road of the ground prove. During the test, the current and voltage under steady-state operation of the stack were measured six times at regular intervals. The test results indicate a fluctuating variation of the polarization curves. In the meantime, the V₀ decreases by 3% of the original value, R increases by 55.8% and b declines by 28.0%. From the results it can be concluded that the strengthened road vibration exert a significant influence on the steady-state performance of the fuel cell stack, which cannot and should not be ignored during the research.     

Design of an air humidifier for a 5 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack operated at elevated temperatures

Air humidification is a crucial issue for superior performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM fuel cell) stacks. In this work, an air humidifier is proposed for a 5 kW PEM fuel cell stack working at elevated temperatures, e.g., 90–95 °C. The high temperature coolant exiting the stack is utilized to pre-heat the air in the heat exchanging tubes of the humidifier, and the heated air is humidified with deionized water supplied by a nozzle fixed in a top cavity. Both the tubes and the nozzle are properly designed to ensure sufficient heat transfer and superior atomization. Humidification performance is evaluated under different operation conditions. The nozzle is able to inject well-atomized water with uniform droplet diameter. With the variation of inlet air flow rate, the relative humidity (RH) of the outlet air increases at the beginning, then decreases gradually due to the attenuation of dew point (DP) temperature. However, the humidification performance can be improved when higher temperature deionized water is injected or high temperature coolant is supplied. At a coolant temperature of 95 °C, the outlet air DP temperature is maintained over 80 °C with 25 °C injection water. Moreover, better humidification performance is achieved when the injection water flow rate is controlled according to the working conditions of the stack.     

Two-phase flow pressure drop hysteresis in an operating proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Two-phase flow pressure drop hysteresis was studied in an operating PEM fuel cell. The variables studied include air stoichiometry (1.5, 2, 3, 4), temperature (50, 75, 90 °C), and the inclusion of a microporous layer. The cathode channel pressure drops can differ in PEM fuel cells when the current density is increased along a path and then decreased along the same path (pressure drop hysteresis). Generally, the descending pressure drop is greater than the ascending pressure drop at low current densities (<200 mA cm⁻²), and the effect is worse at low stoichiometries and low temperatures. The results show that the hysteresis occurs with or without the inclusion of a microporous layer. Initial results show a modified Lockhart-Martinelli approach seems to be able to predict the two-phase flow pressure drop during the ascending path. The results compare well with photographs taken from the cathode flow field channel of a visualization cell.     

Thermal management of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with pyrolytic graphite sheets and fans combined

This work characterizes the thermal management of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack with combined passive and active cooling. A 10-cell PEMFC stack with an active area of 100 cm² for each cell is constructed. Six thermally conductive 0.1-mm-thick Pyrolytic Graphite Sheets (PGSs) are cut into the shape of flow channels and bound to the six central cathode gas channel plates. These PGSs, which are lightweight and have high thermal conductivity, function as heat spreaders and fins and provide passive cooling in the fuel cell stack, along with two small fans for forced convection. Three other cooling configurations with differently sized fans are also tested for comparisons (without PGSs). Although the maximum power generated by the stack with the configuration combining PGSs and fans was 183 W, not the highest among all configurations, it significantly reduced the volume, weight, and cooling power of the thermal management system. Net power, specific power, volumetric power density, and back work ratio of this novel thermal management method are 179 W, 18.54 W kg⁻¹, 38.9 kW m⁻³, and 2.1%, respectively, which are superior to those of the other three cooling configurations with fans.     

Model based design and test of cooling plates for an air-cooled polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack

Design of an effective cooling system in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is vital for the heat management and overall performance of stacks. Depending on the stack size and application, either air or water-cooling can be used to extract excess heat and maintain the desired temperature distribution throughout the stack.A computational model previously assembled by the authors has been used to design cooling plates for a typical air-cooled stack configuration. The aim of these designs was to minimise temperature differences between cells, and dissipate heat from the stack. Three different cooling plate designs are analysed both computationally and experimentally within stacks containing electrically heated pads in place of active MEAs.Good agreement was achieved between the model and experiment, and results showed that implementing a cooling plate is an effective way to balance temperature variation within a stack and minimise thermal issues. It was found that the temperature variation may be minimised by implementing plates with wider cooling channels. As a result, more air may be forced through the channels with less resistance, which minimises the power required by the air blower, and hence the parasitic load on the system.     

Performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with thermally conductive pyrolytic graphite sheets for thermal management

This work experimentally investigates the effects of the pyrolytic graphite sheets (PGS) on the performance and thermal management of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. These PGS with the features of light weight and high thermal conductivity serve as heat spreaders in the fuel cell stack for the first time to reduce the volume and weight of cooling systems, and homogenizes the temperature in the reaction areas. A PEMFC stack with an active area of 100 cm² and 10 cells in series is constructed and used in this research. Five PGS of thickness 0.1 mm are cut into the shape of flow channels and bound to the central five cathode gas channel plates. Four thermocouples are embedded on the cathode gas channel plates to estimate the temperature variation in the stack. It is shown that the maximum power of the stack increase more than 15% with PGS attached. PGS improve the stack performance and alleviate the flooding problem at low cathode flow rates significantly. Results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of application of PGS to the thermal management of a small-to-medium-sized fuel cell stack.     

Passive water management at the cathode of a planar air-breathing proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Water management is a significant challenge in portable polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells and particularly in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells with air-breathing cathodes. Liquid water condensation and accumulation at the cathode surface is unavoidable in a passive design operated over a wide range of ambient and load conditions. Excessive flooding or dry out of the open cathode can lead to a dramatic reduction of fuel cell power. We report a water management design based on a hydrophilic and electrically conductive wick. A prototype air-breathing fuel cell with the proposed water management design successfully operated under severe flooding conditions, ambient temperature 10 °C and relative humidity of 80%, for up to 6 h with no observable cathode flooding or loss of performance.     

Stack shut-down strategy optimisation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with the segment stack technology

In the previous researches, researchers mainly focus on the single cell which is far away from the practical application. In this paper, shut-down process is studied in a 5-cell stack with segment technology. In the unprotected group, the hydrogen/air boundary is observed, and the output voltage performance degrades greatly after 300 start-stop cycles. A 2-phase auxiliary load strategy is proposed to avoid the hydrogen/air boundary. The lifetime is extended. But a serious local starvation is observed during the shut-down process. And corrosion happened in the inlet region. To avoid the starvation, the second strategy is designed, which combines 2-phase auxiliary and air purge (2-phase load& air purge strategy). With the new strategy, the degradation of the stack after 1500 cycles is acceptable, and the carbon corrosion in the inlet is effectively reduced. It could conclude that the hydrogen/air boundary is the main cause of the degradation of fuel cell during an unprotected shut-down process. And a strategy only with auxiliary load may suffer from the local starvation. The purge process can avoid the vacuum effect in the fuel cell caused by the auxiliary load. Therefore, adding an air purge during the shut-down process is promising in vehicle fuel cell.     

Lithium polymer batteries and proton exchange membrane fuel cells as energy sources in hydrogen electric vehicles

This paper deals with the application of lithium ion polymer batteries as electric energy storage systems for hydrogen fuel cell power trains. The experimental study was firstly effected in steady state conditions, to evidence the basic features of these systems in view of their application in the automotive field, in particular charge-discharge experiments were carried at different rates (varying the current between 8 and 100 A). A comparison with conventional lead acid batteries evidenced the superior features of lithium systems in terms of both higher discharge rate capability and minor resistance in charge mode. Dynamic experiments were carried out on the overall power train equipped with PEM fuel cell stack (2 kW) and lithium batteries (47.5 V, 40 Ah) on the European R47 driving cycle. The usage of lithium ion polymer batteries permitted to follow the high dynamic requirement of this cycle in hard hybrid configuration, with a hydrogen consumption reduction of about 6% with respect to the same power train equipped with lead acid batteries.     

A novel design for humidifying an open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell using anode purge

The low performance of open-cathode proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (OCPEMFCs) is attributed to the low-humidity ambient air supplied to the cathode using electric fans. To improve the OCPEMFC performance, this paper proposes a novel humidification method by collecting water purged from the anode and supplying it to the open cathode. The OCPEMFC performance is evaluated at various humidifier distances from the cathode inlet, and it is compared with that where no humidifier is used when the OCPEMFC operates under three different current levels of 1, 5, and 8 A. The results show that the novel design improves the stack power, and optimal performance is achieved at a humidifier distance of 2 cm. The energy efficiency achieves an improvement between 1.4% and 1.8% when a humidifier is used.     

Two-phase flow pressure drop hysteresis in parallel channels of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Two-phase flow pressure drop hysteresis was studied in a non-operational PEM fuel cell to understand the effect of stoichiometry, GDL characteristics, operating range, and initial conditions (dry vs. flooded) for flow conditions typical of an operating fuel cell. This hysteresis is noted when the air and water flow rates are increased and then decreased along the same path, exhibiting different pressure drops. When starting from dry conditions, the descending pressure drop tended to be higher than the ascending pressure drop at lower simulated current densities. The hysteresis effect was noted for stoichiometries of 1-4 and was eliminated at a stoichiometry of 5. It was found that the hysteresis was greater when water breakthrough occurred at higher simulated current densities, which is a function of GDL properties. The operating range had to reach a critical simulated current density (800 mA cm⁻² in this case) between the ascending and descending approach to create a pressure drop hysteresis zone. The descending step size does not change the size of the hysteresis effect, but a larger step size leads to lower fluctuations in the pressure drop signal. An initially flooded condition also showed hysteresis, but the ascending approach tended to have a higher pressure drop than the descending approach.     

Experimental study on the dynamic performance of an air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack with ultra-thin metal bipolar plate

In this paper, a compact 3 kW air-cooled fuel cell stack consists of 95 single cells with metallic bipolar plate is designed. Compared with graphite bipolar plates, metal stamping bipolar plates are lighter in weight, smaller in size and faster in heat conduction, therefore the transient behaviors of the voltage and temperature of each cell are analyzed. The results show that the heat distribution of the air-cooled fuel cell is very uniform, and the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of cathode air of the fuel cell is lower than 15 °C. The individual cell voltage uniformity percentage variation value reaches 7% when the drop in the loading current is over 25 A. Moreover, the voltage uniformity variation value is higher than 4% when the loading current output exceeds 35A. Thus, a large drop in loading and a high loading current easily increase the voltage uniformity variation value. Long-term continuous operation has a negative influence on the performance of the stack, especially the last fuel cell near the anode outlet. Anode purging can effectively alleviate the uniformity percentage variation in the voltages. The designed air-cooled fuel cell exhibits good performance and strong environmental adaptability.     

Low power proton exchange membrane fuel cell system identification and adaptive control

This paper proposes a systematic method of system identification and control of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. This fuel cell can be used for low-power communication devices involving complex electrochemical reactions of nonlinear and time-varying dynamic properties. From a system point of view, the dynamic model of PEM fuel cell is reduced to a configuration of two inputs, hydrogen and air flow rates, and two outputs, cell voltage and current. The corresponding transfer functions describe linearized subsystem dynamics with finite orders and time-varying parameters, which are expressed as discrete-time auto-regression moving-average with auxiliary input models for system identification by the recursive least square algorithm. In the experiments, a pseudo-random binary sequence of hydrogen or air flow rate is fed to a single fuel cell device to excite its dynamics. By measuring the corresponding output signals, each subsystem transfer function of reduced order is identified, while the unmodeled, higher-order dynamics and disturbances are described by the auxiliary input term. This provides a basis of adaptive control strategy to improve the fuel cell performance in terms of efficiency, as well as transient and steady state specifications. Simulation shows that adaptive controller is robust to the variation of fuel cell system dynamics, and it has proved promising from the experimental results.