Nafion ® Tubing Humidification System for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Alessandro Ferraris, Alessandro Messana, Andrea Giancarlo Airale, Lorenzo Sisca, Henrique de Carvalho Pinheiro, Francesco Zevola and Massimiliana Carello
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Alessandro Ferraris: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Alessandro Messana: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Andrea Giancarlo Airale: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Lorenzo Sisca: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Henrique de Carvalho Pinheiro: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Francesco Zevola: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Massimiliana Carello: Politecnico di Torino—Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Humidity and temperature have an essential influence on PEM fuel cell system performance. The water content within the polymeric membrane is important for enhancing proton conduction and achieving high efficiency of the system. The combination of non-stationary operation requests and the variability of environment conditions poses an important challenge to maintaining optimal membrane hydration. This paper presents a humidification and thermal control system, to prevent the membrane from drying. The main characteristics of such a device are small size and weight, compactness and robustness, easy implementation on commercial fuel cell, and low power consumption. In particular, the NTHS method was studied in a theoretical approach, tested and optimized in a laboratory and finally applied to a PEMFC of 1 kW that supplied energy for the prototype vehicle IDRA at the Shell Eco-Marathon competition. Using a specific electronic board, which controls several variables and decides the optimal reaction air flow rate, the NTHS was managed. Furthermore, the effects of membrane drying and electrode flooding were presented.

Keywords: fuel cell; hydrogen; FCEV; PEM; efficiency; polymer electrolyte; humidification; low-consumption vehicle; control systems; NTHS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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