Investigation of micro-combined heat and power application of PEM fuel cell systems

This study focuses on the investigating different working temperature effect on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) stack performance, micro-combined heat and power (μCHP) application and their simple payback time. LT-PEMFC and HT-PEMFC short stacks were designed and analyzed for 480 W net power output. Liquid cooling method was choosing for the cooling the PEMFC stacks due for efficient μCHP applications. The experimental studies were carried out by using 13 cells HT-PEMFC and 6 cells LT-PEMFC short stacks and design parameters were determined. 1.2 kW PEMFCs with μCHP systems with different working temperature were designed based on electrochemical data obtained from short stack testing. The proposed PEMFC systems can supply electric and hot water. The highest μCHP system efficiency was calculated with a value of 92% for HT-PEMFC based system. The corresponding electrical and thermal efficiencies are 48% and 44%, respectively. In this study, two important parameters have been analyzing: efficiency and simple payback time. By using μCHP application, both natural gas and H2 based PEMFC systems SPT values are reduced.