Improvement of proton exchange membrane fuel cell overall efficiency by integrating heat-to-electricity conversion

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have shown to be well suited for distributed power generation due to their excellent performance. However, a PEMFC produces a considerable amount of heat in the process of electrochemical reaction. It is desirable to use thermal energy for electricity generation in addition to heating applications. Based on the operating characteristics of a PEMFC, an advanced thermal energy conversion system using “ocean thermal energy conversion” (OTEC) technology is applied to exploit the thermal energy of the PEMFC for electricity generation. Through this combination of technology, this unique PEMFC power plant not only achieves the combined heat and power efficiency, but also adequately utilizes heat to generate more valuable electricity. Exergy analysis illustrates the improvement of overall efficiency and energy flow distribution in the power plant. Analytical results show that the overall efficiency of the PEMFC is increased by 0.4–2.3% due to the thermal energy conversion (TEC) system. It is also evident that the PEMFC should operate within the optimal load range by balancing the design parameters of the PEMFC and of the TEC system.