Effective purge method with addition of hydrogen on the cathode side for cold start in PEM fuel cell

The purge process is essential for successful cold start of fuel cell vehicles during winter, and it plays an important role in the removal of the residual water inside the fuel cell in a short time. In this study, a new purge method is introduced by adding a small amount of hydrogen to the cathode gas flow in order to increase the purge performance. The experimental results demonstrate that the hydrogen addition purge method is very effective in removing the residual water near the catalyst layer. The water removal is verified by measuring the resistance of the fuel cell, dew point temperature of the outlet purge gas, and weights of the membrane electrolyte assembly (MEA) and gas diffusion layer (GDL). In addition, the image of the GDL after the purge process is captured to show the advantage of the hydrogen addition purge method. Cold start experiments are also conducted after the optimal purge process. It is also found that the degradation of the catalyst layer is not serious after the hydrogen addition purge process. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.