Dynamic modeling and experimental analysis of PEMFCs: A comparative study

Different Fuel Cell (FC) stacks or system models must be developed relevance to a specified main objective, either an accurate electro-chemical behavior description or optimization procedure at a system level. In this paper, the characteristics of cell polarization V-I curves are studied for three different dynamic models (Dicks, impedance and electrical equivalent circuit). The simulation results, using MATLAB-Simulink™, provide an adequate evaluation of each model under different load conditions. Although the different models provide acceptable results and are suitable for many applications particularly embedded systems, the electrical equivalent circuit model offers accuracy four times better than the Dicks model. The experimental validation of the FC voltage-current characteristic obtained by the different models at steady-state and transient conditions is performed. The agreement between the simulation and the experimental results is adequate.