Experimental Study on Cold Start Strategies of Fuel Cell Stack: Sensitivity Analysis, Optimization, and Boundaries

Abstract

The adaptability of fuel cell vehicles in low-temperature environments remains challenging for their commercialization owing to the propensity of water within the fuel cell to freeze during a cold start, which impedes gas transmission and subsequent reactions. Consequently, the initial water content before cold start and the heat and water generated during this process are crucial for achieving a successful cold start. In this study, current- and voltage-controlled starting strategies are analyzed using a stack comprising 20 cells with an area of 285 cm2. Furthermore, key parameters related to shut down purging and cold start are optimized using starting time and reverse polarity cell count as optimization objectives. The optimal conditions for cold start include a current density of 0.5 A cm−2, voltage of 0.45 V, purging time of 180 s, and stack temperature (during purging) of 60 °C. Furthermore, the ambient temperature boundary is determined as −25 °C–−30 °C for a successful cold start without auxiliary heating in the stack.