Thermal management system modeling of a water-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell

In water-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system, a thermal management system which involves coordinating thermal management components such as the coolant circulation pump and radiator fan plays the important role for keeping the output performance of PEMFC in safe and steady condition. In order to avoid coolant temperature fluctuations and prevent thermal runaway, a control-oriented water-cooled system model based on electrochemical reactions and thermodynamic for the thermal management control is established and an experimental system is also developed for model validation. The comparisons between the model results and the experimental data under three different operating conditions (increasing the coolant temperature difference between outlet and inlet, reducing the coolant inlet temperatures, increasing the output current) demonstrate that the proposed model can efficiently simulate the dynamic behaviors with a high accuracy for the changing of the output voltage, the coolant temperature, the coolant flow rate and the controlling voltage of radiator. Therefore, the proposed model will be used as guidance for the design and optimization of the water-cooled PEMFC control system.