Parameter configuration using differential evolution for proton exchange membrane fuel cell system

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell(PEMFC) is a type of fuel cell being developed for transport applications as well as for stationary fuel cell applications and portable fuel cell applications. Recently, the research of PEMFC has been more focused on describing the characteristics and building models of fuel cells, which are important application but obviously not enough. This paper presents methods to configure the parameters of the fuel cell stack, so that it can provides the maximum power output at the rated output voltage. First, a mathematical simulation model of the fuel cell was reviewed. A differential evolution(DE) algorithm code was then applied to optimize a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack design by optimizing some parameters of the stack. The simulated and experimental data confirmed the validity of our differential evolution optimization technique for fuel cell configuration. In fact, the problem of PEMFC configuration is a multi-objective optimization, and the basis of this study will be helpful to us for further study. Copyright © 2011 Binary Information Press.