Cold start behavior and freeze characteristics of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

Abstract

Vehicle applications require efficient cold start ability and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, various self-cold start strategies including purging the PEMFC at shutdown and using galvanostatic operation at startup are proposed. The cold start characteristics from −5 • C of a single cell are experimentally investigated in situ on a laboratory scale. The amount of cumulated charge transfer density, corresponding to the amount of product water, is used as an index to quantify the cold start capability. Gas purge at shutdown before freeze is found to facilitate the PEMFC cold start, although the improvement is relatively small compared with other methods such as gradually increasing the current during startup. Microscopic studies of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) after cold start failure are conducted to determine material degradation due to ice formation.

Grand Challenges in Fuel cell Technology towards Resource Recovery

“…With stiff competitions from other technologies, it is crucial that fuel cells also undergo capital cost reductions soon to ensure their market presence. Finally, cold start issue is another applicational challenge where, at temperatures are below 0oC, water freezes, that occupies pore spaces and blocks the supply of fuel; thereby, damaging fuel cell components (Kocher et al, 2021). One of the available ways to mitigate this issue is by inserting a hybrid battery to warm up the stack allowing liquid water to flow, when temperature rises above 0oC, via capillary action (Wang et al, 2021).…”

E.nova - Green Deal

“…The combination of long ranges and fast charging makes this technology particularly attractive. As part of the roll out of PEFC technology, the understanding, prediction and prevention of FC durability limiting issues is critical (Kocher et al 2021). A reduction of lifetime is often caused by the degradation of key components in the heart of the fuel cell (Bodner et al 2018).…”

Experimental Study on Cold Start Strategies of Fuel Cell Stack: Sensitivity Analysis, Optimization, and Boundaries

“…6 The purpose of the shutdown purge is to remove the water inside the stack and control the water content of the membrane, which can improve the performance of the PEMFC cold start. 7 Following the operation of the fuel cell, the system reduces the load, cools down, and starts to purge the anode and cathode after the coolant reaches a certain temperature. Since the initial water content of the membrane is related to the water storage space and the heat production rate of the startup process, too low water content easily leads to poor performance, 8 and too high water content leads to the formation of icing.…”