Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
7713760 | International Journal of Hydrogen Energy | 2015 | 7 Pages |
Abstract
Overall fuel cell system efficiency must include consideration of the parasitic loads associated with operating the stack. For an air-cooled open-cathode polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) the air blowers form the largest parasitic load and have a direct influence of the performance of the stack and its temperature; increasing air flow often leading to improved performance at the expense of increasing parasitic load. Here, electro-thermal performance maps are used to characterise stack operation with varying air flow rate (for both cooling and cathode oxygen supply). The non-linear power requirement of air blowers is used to modify stack-level electro-thermal maps to give system-level performance maps capable of identifying the optimum air flow rate to maximise net power output and consequently efficiency at a given operating point. The electro-thermal map concept is invoked in the consideration of dynamics of fuel cell system operation with issues pertaining to speed of response, durability and system self-sustainable operation.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemistry
Electrochemistry
Authors
Quentin Meyer, Ahmed Himeur, Sean Ashton, Oliver Curnick, Ralph Clague, Tobias Reisch, Paul Adcock, Paul R. Shearing, Daniel J.L. Brett,