Investigation on the Operating Conditions of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Based on Constant Voltage Cold Start Mode

Yanbo Yang,Weikang Lin,Tiancai Ma,Boyu Du,Naiyuan Yao

doi:10.3390/en14030660

Abstract

The cold start property is one of the main factors restricting the fuel cell application in the automotive field. The constant voltage cold start method of the fuel cell works under low start voltage and produces high heat, which can shorten the start-up time of the fuel cell at low temperature and has the opportunity to be applied to fuel cell vehicles. Meanwhile, in the constant voltage cold start mode, the fuel cell needs to operate under a large current, and more water is generated during the start-up process. Thus, the optimization of operating conditions for the constant voltage cold start is particularly important. However, there are relatively few studies on the optimization of operating conditions for the constant voltage cold start with a single-cell voltage less than 0.3 V. In this work, the cold start experiment of the fuel cell with constant voltage is carried out. According to the cold start experiment, the different cold start voltage, back-pressure, and the inlet flow rate are examined. Based on the experiment data, the operating conditions have a great influence on the cold start property of the fuel cell and the optimized operating conditions of the constant voltage cold start are obtained.

Highlights

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the efficient hydrogen energy utilization devices, which has many advantages such as high efficiency and environmental protection and is expected to be applied in the automotive field [1,2,3,4]
Hirakata et al [9] added a hydrophilic layer to the gas diffusion layer (GDL), proving that the hydrophilic layer could enhance the movement of water from the catalytic layer (CL) to the GDL and effectively inhibit the water icing in the CL
Cold Start Experiment Procedure of the PEMFC for 2 h with a flow rate of 2 L·min−1 and 5 L·min−1 respectively to ensure that the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) would not be damaged by water freezing

Summary

Introduction

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the efficient hydrogen energy utilization devices, which has many advantages such as high efficiency and environmental protection and is expected to be applied in the automotive field [1,2,3,4]. The cold start property can affact its application in the automotive field [5,6]. Previous research mainly focused on the freezing mechanism and cold start process to solve these problems. Considered the mechanism of the phase transition and water transport in the cold start process and indicated that most of the water in the cathode catalytic layer (CL) was more likely to freeze. Zhu et al [10] found that the pressure drop in a single variable section serpentine flow field was large, which could inhibit icing and had strong cold start characteristics in fuel cells. Knorr et al [11] adopted the methanol–water mixture as antifreeze for the PEMFC and found that the durability of the fuel cell improved significantly after the use of antifreeze

Methods

Results

Conclusion