Abstract
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are prone to membrane dehydration and liquid water flooding, negatively impacting their performance and lifetime. Therefore, PEMFCs require appropriate water management, which makes accurate water modeling indispensable. Unfortunately, available control-oriented models only replicate individual water-related aspects or use oversimplistic approximations. This paper resolves this challenge by proposing, for the first time, a control-oriented PEMFC stack model focusing on physically motivated water modeling, which covers phase change, liquid water removal, membrane water uptake, and water flooding effects on the electrochemical reaction. Parametrizing the resulting model with measurement data yielded the fitted model. The parameterized model delivers valuable insight into the water mechanisms, which were thoroughly analyzed. In summary, the proposed model enables the derivation of advanced control strategies for efficient water management and mitigation of the degradation phenomena of PEMFCs. Additionally, the model provides the required accuracy for control applications while maintaining the necessary computational efficiency.
Highlights
Internal combustion engines will be superseded by more environmentally friendly alternatives in the future
Available control-oriented models only replicate individual water-related aspects or use oversimplistic approximations. This paper resolves this challenge by proposing, for the first time, a control-oriented Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) stack model focusing on physically motivated water modeling, which covers phase change, liquid water removal, membrane water uptake, and water flooding effects on the electrochemical reaction
The proposed model enables the derivation of advanced control strategies for efficient water management and mitigation of the degradation phenomena of PEMFCs
Summary
Internal combustion engines will be superseded by more environmentally friendly alternatives in the future. An adapted Hertz–Knudsen equation governs the phase change, and droplet detachment is determinable by evaluating the forces acting on a droplet These two approaches are unique in control-oriented models and enable realistic modeling of the transients correlated with the phase change and liquid water removal. The capability to replicate flooding and dry-out operating conditions opens the possibility of more precise modeling, during transient operating conditions, and during startup and shutdown sequences The latter enables the calculation of all the main degradation prerequisites under this kind of operation, allowing the derivation of predictive control strategies to mitigate degradation phenomena and improve water management, which gives an outlook for further work.
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