Optimizing the relative humidity to improve the stability of a proton exchange membrane by segmented fuel cell technology

被引:37
作者
Lin, Rui [1 ,2 ,3 ]
Cao, Chunhui [1 ,2 ]
Ma, Jianxin [1 ,2 ]
Guelzow, Erich [3 ]
Friedrich, K. Andreas [3 ]
机构
[1] Tongji Univ, Clean Energy Automot Engn Ctr, Shanghai 201804, Peoples R China
[2] Tongji Univ, Sch Automot Studies, Shanghai 201804, Peoples R China
[3] German Aerosp Ctr, Inst Tech Thermodynam, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany
关键词
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell; Segmented fuel cell technology; Current density distribution; Stability; Humidity; DISTRIBUTIONS; TEMPERATURE; PERFORMANCE;
D O I
10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.11.046
中图分类号
O64 [物理化学(理论化学)、化学物理学];
学科分类号
070304 ; 081704 ;
摘要
The segmented fuel cell technology was applied to investigate the effects of the humidification conditions on the internal locally resolved performance and the stability of the fuel cell system. It was found at certain operating conditions, the time-dependent oscillation of current at potentio-static state appeared. The appearance of positive spikes of current indicated a temporary improved performance, while the negative current spikes indicated a temporary decreased performance. The periodic build-up and removal of liquid water in the cell caused unstable cell performance. Through the analyses of the evolution of the locally resolved current density distributions, the reasons for the positive or the negative spikes of current peaks with respect to a stationary value were found, which might be due to the drying-out of the membrane or the flooding of the membrane. The contour of the current density mapping differed to each other at the period of current peaks up or down, which might be due to different effect of the drying-out or flooding on the membrane. Through optimizing the relative humidity of anode (RHa) or cathode (RHc) of the fuel cell, the oscillation of the current disappeared and the performance of the cell became stable. RHc affects the performance of fuel cell much more obviously than RHa. The stability of the fuel cell system is also dependent on the imposed voltage. With the cell voltage decreased, the amplitude and the frequency of positive spikes of current increased. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:3373 / 3381
页数:9
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