Vibration Modeling of PEM Fuel Cell for Prediction of Cell Number Effects by Experimental Data

One of the most important challenges in increasing the performance, reliability and lifetime of fuel cells is the mechanical load effects that occur on real applications. Therefore, the vibration model of fuel cell that predicts the behavior of various fuel cell layouts is very useful. The fuel cell is made up of different adjacent layers that may have semi opposite mechanical properties. This special structure leads to occurrence of non‐linear behavior of fuel cell under dynamic mechanical vibrations and so, a black box method is selected for modeling of its vibration behavior. In this study, the mechanical load experiments in various shape and axes were applied on five layouts of proposed fuel cell and the vibration of its body measure by some accelerometers. The NNARXM neural network is created and trained with the experimental data of three layouts of the fuel cell. Then, the prediction error of this neural network, validated with the two other experimental data of fuel cell layouts, by correlation coefficients and histogram of prediction errors. Neural network validation shows the well prediction of both untrained layout and suitable estimation for any desired layout.     

Effect of PTFE Content in Gas Diffusion Media and Microlayer on the Performance of PEMFC Tested under Ambient Pressure

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) content in the fuel cell electrode plays an important role on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) when the cell is tested under low temperature and under ambient pressure. PTFE is added to the PEM fuel cell electrode to improve the mechanical strength and to help in removing the product water formed on the cathode; however, higher PTFE loading increases the resistance and thus decreases the performance of the cell and very low PTFE content has the disadvantage of water flooding in long‐term operation. We have investigated the effect of the PTFE content in the gas diffusion media (carbon paper) and in the microlayer on the performance of PEMFC operating at ambient pressure. The PTFE contents in these two layers have to be finely matched to get the best performance of the cells. The polarisation behaviour, electrochemical surface area and the electrochemical impedance spectra have been analysed. The results are presented in this paper.     

Performance Analysis of PEM Fuel Cells with Different Electrical Loads

One of the most outstanding products of fuel cells is electrical power but, currently, there is a reduced number of publications that provide experimental data about the performance of fuel cells when used for supplying Alternating Current (AC) loads. Most of the existing publications provide experimental data only with direct current (DC) loads, or analyze the performance with AC loads using simulation models. For this reason, this paper analyses experimentally the behavior of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system when feeding different electrical loads. The system tested is constituted by a PEM fuel cell, a storage battery, electronic converters and electrical loads. In the tests, the fuel cell system supplies power to three different loads: DC, single‐phase AC and three‐phase AC. For these cases, voltage, current, power, power factor and efficiency data are shown, at different load levels. From those parameters, efficiency of the global system is estimated. Finally, as the power quality concept is a topic of increasing importance when supplying electricity, the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the electric signals has also been analyzed.     

Electrochemical Evaluation of Porous Non‐Platinum Oxygen Reduction Catalysts for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

A porous non‐platinum electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), obtained by pyrolysing a cobalt porphyrin precursor, was evaluated by electrochemical means. The reactivity of the non‐platinum ORR catalyst was investigated with a rotating disc electrode (RDE) experimental set up. RDE data were collected in an acidic electrolyte containing N₂, O₂, CO and under mixed reactant O₂/methanol conditions. The electrochemical performance of such‐obtained non‐platinum catalyst is discussed and compared to platinum‐based ORR catalysts. Based on the results collected here, we are able to propose and test possible proton exchange fuel cell (PEFC) operating conditions where non‐platinum ORR catalysts can be utilised. Direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) data demonstrating a superior performance of the non‐platinum catalyst relative to platinum black, often perceived as the state‐of‐the‐art oxygen–reduction catalyst for the DMFC cathode is presented.     

冷冻-解冻循环及气体吹扫对质子交换膜燃料电池的影响

1 INTRODUCTION Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is promising for its advantages of simple structure, relatively low operating temperature, high efficiency, convenient maintenance and rapid startup. PEMFCs can be used in many potential fields, especially as power sources for vehicles to replace normal combus- tion engine[1,2]. However, the availability of fuel cell vehicles is not quite close to us so far, although both concept design and demonstration have proved its feas…     

Influence of bio-inspired flow channel designs on the performance of a PEM fuel cell

Performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) is appreciably affected by the channel geometry. The branching structure of a plant leaf and human lung is an efficient network to distribute the nutrients in the respective systems. The same nutrient transport system can be mimicked in the flow channel design of a PEMFC, to aid even reactant distribution and better water management. In this work, the effect of bio-inspired flow field designs such as lung and leaf channel design bipolar plates, on the performance of a PEMFC was examined experimentally at various operating conditions. A PEMFC of 49 cm~2 area, with a Nafion 212 membrane with a 40% catalyst loading of 0.4 mg·cm-2 on the anode side and also 0.6 mg·cm~(-2) on the cathode side is assembled by incorporating the bio-inspired channel bipolar plate, and was tested on a programmable fuel-cell test station.The impact of the working parameters like reactants' relative humidity(RH), back pressure and fuel cell temperature on the performance of the fuel cell was examined; the operating pressure remains constant at 0.1 MPa. It was observed that the best performance was attained at a back pressure of 0.3 MPa, 75 °C operating temperature and 100% RH. The three flow channels were also compared at different operating pressures ranging from 0.1 MPa to 0.3 MPa, and the other parameters such as operating temperature, RH and back pressure were set as 75 °C,100% and 0.3 MPa. The experimental outcomes of the PEMFC with bio-inspired channels were compared with the experimental results of a conventional triple serpentine flow field. It was observed that among the different flow channel designs considered, the leaf channel design gives the best output in terms of power density. Further,the experimental results of the leaf channel design were compared with those of the interdigitated leaf channel design. The PEMFC with the interdigitated leaf channel design was found to generate 6.72% more power density than the non-interdigitated leaf channel design. The fuel cell with interdigitated leaf channel design generated5.58% more net power density than the fuel cell with non-interdigitated leaf channel design after considering the parasitic losses.     

Characterization of a Ballard MK5‐E Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack

We present the results of an experimental investigation of the energy balance of a Ballard MK5‐E proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. We have investigated the transient phenomena that occur during PEMFC stack warm‐up, under load switching, and when the PEMFC stack is connected to a DC/AC inverter. A simple and convenient model describing the polarization curve as a function of the temperature is presented and validated by our experimental data. We also present experimental results on the increase PEMFC stack performance as a function of the current density for different oxygen concentrations of the oxidant gas.     

操作条件对质子交换膜燃料电池电化学阻抗动态行为的影响

应用交流阻抗谱法（electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,EIS）研究温度、湿度和阴、阳极过量系数4种操作条件对质子交换膜燃料电池（proton exchange membrane fuel cell,PEMFC）电化学阻抗的影响,并应用复合阻容并联等效电路对实验结果进行等效拟合。实验结果表明,PEMFC单电池的电流密度为1400 mA/cm²时,阴极过量系数对PEMFC单电池高频阻抗的影响最大,温度和湿度次之,阳极过量系数影响最小;不同操作条件的改变对高频阻抗谱中的欧姆阻抗的影响非常小,主要通过影响阴阳极法拉第阻抗来影响PEMFC单电池的输出性能;等效结果和实验结果在不同频率段的阻抗表现出一致的变化规律,各阻抗的误差值能够控制在2mΩ以内,可以有效地等效替代实验结果。     

Computationally‐Efficient Simulation of Transport Phenomena in Fuel Cell Stacks via Electrical and Thermal Decoupling of the Cells

To overcome the prohibitive computational cost associated with detailed mechanistic models for fuel cell stacks, we derive an efficient computational strategy based on thermal and electrical decoupling of cells. The conditions that allow for decoupling are discussed and verified with a non‐isothermal model considering two‐dimensional conservation of mass, momentum, species, energy, charge, and electrochemistry for a 10‐cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack. The derived strategy allows for simulation of large stacks comprising hundreds of cells at a low computational cost and complexity; e.g., for a PEMFC stack comprising 500 cells, the decoupled algorithm takes less than 30 min to solve and requires only 1 GB of random access memory.     

First Steps Towards Fuel Cells Testing Harmonisation: Procedures and Parameters for Single Cell Performance Evaluation

The great interest in Fuel Cell Systems, combined with the innovation of the device itself, has led to a huge developmental effort to make the steps necessary for future FC plant commissioning. The clearest and most effective way to evaluate the performance of a fuel cell is to measure it directly and, since few fuel cell test rigs are available at the moment, standard experimental procedures have not been realized so far. Our research group is currently performing single cell testing at the University of Perugia fuel cell laboratory and particular emphasis has been put on the definition of procedures and the testing of parameterisation. The work team strongly believes that this is the key to effective system testing and reliable performance evaluation. In this work, the test parameterisation developed by the team, and the resulting advanced control procedure used for a single MCFC experimental characterization are presented. Efforts have been dedicated to obtain some relevant non‐dimensional parameters to allow an easy understanding of the results and quick comparisons with other tests under different operating conditions, or with results obtained on different cells eventually tested in different laboratories. The authors strongly emphasise this topic to avoid the data that developers and research institutions collect being of no practical use due to a lack of shared rules.     

Model for the Degradation Performance of a Single‐Cell Direct Methanol Fuel Cell under Varying Operational Conditions

The effect of varying operating parameters on the degradation of a single‐cell direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) with serpentine flow channels was investigated. Fuel cell internal temperature, methanol concentration, and air and methanol flow rates were varied in experimental tests and fuel cell performance was chronologically recorded. A DMFC semi‐empirical performance model was developed to predict the polarization curves of the DMFC and validated at different operating conditions. Performance degradation was observed and modeled over time by a linear regression model. Unlike previous studies, the cumulative exposure of the operating factors to the fuel cell was considered in the degradation analysis. The degradation model shows the cell voltage generation capacity does not significantly degrade. However, the Tafel slope of the cell changes with cumulative exposure to methanol concentration and air flow, and the ohmic resistance changes with cumulative exposure to temperature, methanol and air flow.     

Application of Gas Permeation in Fuel Cell Powered Vehicles

Main motivation for the use of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) in traffic applications is its significant higher vehicle efficiency compared to internal combustion engines (ICE) especially under low‐load operation. Hydrogen is the ideal fuel for PEMFCs as it yields the highest level of fuel cell performance. Three different applications for gas permeation inside a fuel cell system have been investigated: water recovery, hydrogen purification, and oxygen enrichment. The focus was on the analysis of the technical feasibility and the availability of capable membranes on the pilot‐scale size for each application.     

SAXS Analysis of Catalyst Degradation in High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells Subjected to Accelerated Ageing Tests

The loss in performance during fuel cell operation is one of the critical factors that hamper fuel cells commercialization. This paper presents a research activity related to high temperature polymer electrode membrane fuel cell (HT‐PEMFC) degradation. The aim of the study is to investigate catalyst degradation of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) subjected to load cycles. Two HT‐PEM MEAs have been subjected to accelerated ageing tests based on load cycling. The cycles profile has been chosen in order to enhance catalyst degradation. Both the tests show a fuel cell performance loss lower than 30 mV after 100,000 cycles at 600 mA cm⁻². In order to analyze the catalyst evolution, synchrotron small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) has been employed. The catalyst degradation of the two conditioned samples has been compared with the data obtained from a new MEA that has been used as reference sample. The SAXS results showed a mean size increase of the platinum nanoparticles up to the 100%.     

球形团聚物模型在质子交换膜燃料电池过程模拟中的应用

在建立直通道质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)的二维全电池数学模型中,将球形团聚物模型应用至两极的催化剂层。通过调节团聚物中质子传导介质的比例和催化层孔隙率,预测了基准供气状态下单电池的极化曲线,与文献报道的实验数据吻合良好。研究了电池运行过程中,膜电极内各化学组分和电流密度的分布情况及流向,比较了不同供气压力、催化剂铂颗粒尺寸等参数对电池性能的影响。计算结果表明,在阴极及时排出反应产生的水,并在阳极对燃料气进行加湿是保证单电池正常运行的前提,提高阴极的氧化剂气体压力,可显著改善PEMFC单电池性能,特别是在受浓差极化影响较大的大电流密度区;在催化剂铂载量相同的情况下,减小铂颗粒的尺寸可以提高电池的性能。     

相变材料用于质子交换膜燃料电池的热管理

质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）因能量转化率高且环境友好,成为新一代能源动力的选择。通过分析温度对PEMFC运行性能的重要影响说明对电池进行有效热管理的重要性,按照主动冷却和被动冷却的分类方式对目前PEMFC热管理的研究现状进行归纳和综述,着重介绍运用相变材料的电池热管理系统中材料的选择和强化传热的方法,并对该领域未来研究方向进行了展望。     

The inclusion of Mo, Nb and Ta in Pt and PtRu carbon supported electrocatalysts in the quest for improved CO tolerant PEMFC anodes

The effect of the inclusion of Mo, Nb and Ta in Pt and PtRu carbon supported anode electrocatalysts on CO tolerance in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) has been investigated by cyclic voltammetry and fuel cell tests. CO stripping voltammetry on binary Pt_xM/C (M: Mo, Nb, Ta) reveals partial oxidation of the CO adlayer at low potential, with PtMo (4:1)/C exhibiting the lowest value. At 80 °C, the operating temperature of the fuel cell, CO oxidation was observed at potentials close to 0 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). No significant difference for CO electro-oxidation at the lower potential limit, compared to PtRu/C, was observed for PtRuM_y/C (M: Mo, Nb). Fuel cell tests demonstrated that while all the prepared catalysts exhibited enhanced performance compared to Pt/C, only the addition of a relatively small amount of Mo to PtRu results in an electrocatalyst with a higher activity, in the presence of carbon monoxide, to PtRu/C, the current catalyst of choice for PEM fuel cell applications.     

PEM燃料电池堆动态特性研究

为了探索PEM燃料电池堆的动态特性,对自制5kw PEM燃料电池堆进行了详尽的实验研究。实验结果表明,在所研究条件范围内,温度和压力越高电堆性能越好,而且电堆内阻不仅与工作温度有关,还显著地与操作压力有关。燃料电池堆对于大的负载突变反应能力强,负载变化时,在4s之内就能达到稳定状态,观察到动态极化曲线的不重合现象,它反映了电堆内部水的传质具有复杂机制。     

质子交换膜燃料电池电源系统停机特性及控制策略

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)电源系统在停机后,燃料电池开路高电压被认为是造成电池性能下降和寿命缩短的重要因素。这主要是因为PEMFC电源系统停机后,燃料电池处于开路状态,阳极侧残留的氢气和阴极侧的空气发生电化学反应,电池电压为开路高电压且维持在开路电压的时间比较长,这容易引起催化剂碳载体发生氧化,使分布在载体上的铂(Pt)颗粒脱落,造成燃料电池性能衰减以及寿命缩短。以最大程度缩短停机后开路高电压的时间和加快阳极侧残留氢气的消耗速度为目标,提出了一种PEMFC电源系统的停机策略,通过实验分别研究了直接停机和停机策略停机对PEMFC输出特性的影响。以该停机控制策略为基础,通过实验验证了该停机策略的有效性,为提出保护性的PEMFC电源系统停机控制策略提供了参考性指导。     

Numerical investigation of the performance and transport phenomena of a proton‐exchange membrane fuel cell with a wavelike gas flow channel design

This article investigates the performance of a proton‐exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with a novel wavelike gas flow channel. Numerical simulations have been performed to investigate the effect of the wavelike channel profile on the gas flow characteristics, temperature distribution, electrochemical reaction efficiency, and electrical performance. The simulation results show that compared to a conventional straight gas flow channel, the wavelike channel increases the fuel flow velocity, enhances the transport through the porous layer, and improves the temperature distribution. As a result, the PEMFC has improved fuel utilization efficiency and superior heat‐transfer characteristics. Furthermore, the results show that the wavelike gas flow channel yields a higher PEMFC output voltage and improves the maximum power density by approximately 32.5%. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009     

微型质子交换膜燃料电池设计与性能分析

This study describes a novel micro proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) (active area, 2.5 cm2). The flow field plate is manufactured by applying micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology to silicon substrates to etch flow channels without a gold-coating. Therefore, this investigation used MEMS technology for fabrication of a flow field plate and presents a novel fabrication procedure. Various operating parameters, such as fuel temperature and fuel stoichiometric flow rate, are tested to optimize micro PEMFC performance. A single micro PEMFC using MEMS technology reveals the ideal performance of the proposed fuel cell. The optimal power density approaches 232.75 mW•cm－1 when the fuel cell is operated at ambient condition with humidified, heated fuel.