Parameter optimization for the effective operation of hydrocarbon based Polymer Electrolyte Membrane for Fuel Cells

Abstract

Sulfonated polystyrene ethylene butylene polystyrene (SPSEBS) membrane was prepared by evaporation casting method and was used as the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) for PEM Fuel Cells (PEMFC). Suitability of the membrane for fuel cell studies was examined. This work analyses the optimization of operating parameters of the fuel cells such as cell temperature, flow rate and humidification temperature of anode gas (H <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ). Using Design of Experiments (DOE) number of trials to be conducted was identified. The parameters were optimised using the Taguchi method. The optimized value was then employed in the fuel cell setup and the cell performance was studied. The maximum fuel cell output was obtained at cell temperature of 70° C, flow rate of 0.4 lpm and humidification temperature of 70° C.