An experimental study on the cathode humidification and evaporative cooling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using direct water injection method at high current densities

•Proposal of a cathode humidification and evaporative cooling system for PEM fuel cells.•An external-mixing air-assist atomizer is used to produce a very fine water spray.•The system is effective in both cathode humidification and stack cooling.•Increased water flow rate improves stack performance and evaporative cooling capacity.•At a given water flow rate, lower stack temperatures cause greater humidification effect.

Humidification and cooling are critical issues in enhancing the efficiency and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, existing humidifiers and cooling systems have the disadvantage that they must be quite large to achieve adequate PEMFC performance. In this study, to eliminate the need for a bulky humidifier and to lighten the cooling load of PEMFCs, a cathode humidification and evaporative cooling system using an external-mixing air-assist atomizer was developed and its performance was investigated. The atomization performance of the nozzle was analyzed experimentally under various operating conditions with minimal changes in the system design. Experiments with a five-cell PEMFC stack with an active area of 250 cm2 were carried out to analyze the effects of various parameters (such as the operating temperature, current density, and water injection flow rate) on the evaporation of injected water for humidification and cooling performances. The experimental results demonstrate that the direct water injection method proposed in this study is quite effective in cathode humidification and stack cooling in PEM fuel cells at high current densities. The stack performance was improved by humidification effect and the coolant temperature at the stack outlet decreased by evaporative cooling effect.