AI-Based Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Inlet Relative Humidity Control

Yanpo Song,Xiangwei Wang

doi:10.1109/access.2021.3130604

Yanpo Song, Xiangwei Wang

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1109/access.2021.3130604

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Abstract

Humidity is a key factor affecting proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) efficiency and output performance. Different working conditions have different requirements for humidity. Too high or too low water content inside the PEMFC will damage the output performance and even affect the PEMFC life. Therefore, how to control humidity appropriately is a crucial subject. This paper establishes a PEMFC internal water management and inlet humidity model, and analyzes the influence of the anode inlet humidity change on the performance of the PEMFC and the water content of the membrane through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The direct control of the inlet humidity, which is difficult to be accurately measured, is converted to the temperature control of the bubble humidifier according to the proposed model, and a back propagation neural network proportion integration differentiation (BPPID) controller is proposed, which combines artificial neural network and digital PID control to adjust PID parameters in real time. The controller is applied to the temperature control of the bubble humidifier and compared with the traditional PID controller and the fuzzy PID controller. It is found that the performance of the BPPID controller is better through the comparison with the experimental results.

Highlights

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is the most promising fuel cell technology for its low operating temperature, low noise, fast start-up ability, light weight and high power density [1]
In order to simplify the model and make the model more conducive to analyze the influence of inlet humidity on the system, some assumptions are put forward: (i) the PEMFC operates at a constant temperature, the reaction gases are ideal gases; (ii) the pressure distribution of anode and cathode is uniform and equal; (iii) the water content and water flux on the membrane are uniform; (iv) The water in the PEMFC exists only in the form of gas
Because the inlet humidity of PEMFC is difficult to measure and control, we propose an inlet humidity model to convert the inlet humidity control into the temperature control of bubble humidifier

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is the most promising fuel cell technology for its low operating temperature, low noise, fast start-up ability, light weight and high power density [1]. Nguyen et al [5] proposed a water and heat management model from the perspective of establishing fuel cell humidification mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of various humidification designs and the effects of various design and operating parameters on the performance of PEMFC Their model showed that in order to keep the membrane hydrated to reduce ohmic loss, the anode flow must be humidified and the cathode flow must be humidified when air rather than pure oxygen is employed. In order to simplify the model and make the model more conducive to analyze the influence of inlet humidity on the system, some assumptions are put forward: (i) the PEMFC operates at a constant temperature, the reaction gases are ideal gases; (ii) the pressure distribution of anode and cathode is uniform and equal; (iii) the water content and water flux on the membrane are uniform; (iv) The water in the PEMFC exists only in the form of gas. Where Yan,water and Yca,water denote the mass fraction of water vapor at the inlet of the anode and cathode

PEMFC inlet humidity model

Simulation

BP neural network PID controller

Network training algorithm

Results and discussion

Conclusion