Abstract
Humidity and temperature have an essential influence on PEM fuel cell system performance. The water content within the polymeric membrane is important for enhancing proton conduction and achieving high efficiency of the system. The combination of non-stationary operation requests and the variability of environment conditions poses an important challenge to maintaining optimal membrane hydration. This paper presents a humidification and thermal control system, to prevent the membrane from drying. The main characteristics of such a device are small size and weight, compactness and robustness, easy implementation on commercial fuel cell, and low power consumption. In particular, the NTHS method was studied in a theoretical approach, tested and optimized in a laboratory and finally applied to a PEMFC of 1 kW that supplied energy for the prototype vehicle IDRA at the Shell Eco-Marathon competition. Using a specific electronic board, which controls several variables and decides the optimal reaction air flow rate, the NTHS was managed. Furthermore, the effects of membrane drying and electrode flooding were presented.
Highlights
Fuel cells (FC) are electrochemical devices that transform gaseous fuel’s chemical energy into electricity
Nafion R is a material widely used in FC membranes; this paper studies a particular application of the material, Nafion R tubing
This paper presents the results of the application of the proposed NHTS system, comparing, in particular, the results obtained during two runs: The first without NTHS (Run 1); and the second with NTHS (Run 2), so that the influence of the proposed system can be clearly identified
Summary
Fuel cells (FC) are electrochemical devices that transform gaseous fuel’s chemical energy into electricity (usually hydrogen is used) They represent a promising future power source both for stationary and mobile purposes [1] and promising technology in energy applications. Full electric powertrains present numerous challenges regarding batteries [3,4,5] and Hybrid vehicles face important issues integrating thermal and electric power sources [6,7,8]. In this context, PEMFC appears as a potential candidate, mainly due to their elevated power density and zero-emission characteristics [9]
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