Development of Optimal Conditioning Method to Improve Economic Efficiency of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells

Min Soo Kim, Joo Hee Song and Dong Kyu Kim
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Min Soo Kim: School of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea
Joo Hee Song: School of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea
Dong Kyu Kim: School of Mechanical Engineering, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06974, Korea

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: This study presents an economical conditioning method for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells through a parametric study investigating the factors affecting online conditioning methods. First, we compared the operating conditions between constant current (CC) mode and constant voltage (CV) mode conditioning to understand the effects of current and potential differences on conditioning. We found that CV mode conditioning is at least one hour faster at the same load. This is because unlike CV mode conditioning, which has a constant load over the entire range of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), CC mode conditioning features current flow through the existing passage of the pre-activated triple phase boundary of the MEA so that the electronic load is not entirely used in the conditioning process. Second, the optimization of CV mode conditioning was conducted by controlling the conditioning temperature. Lastly, the economics of the proposed method were analyzed by comparing it with existing conditioning methods. Using this optimal conditioning method can reduce the consumption of hydrogen during conditioning by ~87.5% compared to previous methods. The findings from this study provide the means to lower the actual production cost of fuel cells, thereby ensuring market access.

Keywords: polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell; online conditioning; constant current mode; constant voltage mode; conditioning method optimization; economic analysis (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: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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