Experimental Analysis of the Performance and Load Cycling of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

In this work, a comprehensive experimental analysis on the performance of a 50 cm2 polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell is presented, including experimental results for a dedicated load cycling test. The harmonized testing protocols defined by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission for automotive applications were followed. With respect to a reference conditions representative of automotive applications, the impact of variations in the cell temperature, reactants pressure, and cathode stoichiometry was analyzed. The results showed that a higher temperature resulted in an increase in cell performance. A higher operating pressure also resulted in higher cell voltages. Higher cathode stoichiometry values negatively affected the cell performance, as relatively dry air was supplied, thus promoting the dry-out of the cell. However, a too low stoichiometry caused a sudden drop in the cell voltage at higher current densities, and also caused significant cell voltage oscillations. No significant cell degradation was observed after the load cycling tests.

Data from Experimental Analysis of the Performance and Load Cycling of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

“…The presented dataset contains original raw data files corresponding to experiments carried out with a 50 cm 2 polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell, as reported in Ramírez-Cruzado et al [1]. A detailed description of the test bench and the fuel cell components is provided in [1]. A 50 cm 2 single cell from ElectroChem Inc. (Woburn, MA, United States) was used in the experiments.…”

“…A 50 cm 2 single cell from ElectroChem Inc. (Woburn, MA, United States) was used in the experiments. Graphite bipolar plates were used, with a serpentine flow field in a cross-flow layout [1]. The membrane was a Nafion 112 (DuPont, Wilmington, Delaware, United States) with 1.0 mg Pt/cm 2 catalyst layers.…”

“…The operating conditions tested are indicated in Table 1 [1]. For the cell performance experiments, most of the operating conditions were repeated three times in order to enable reproducibility of the experiments, as described in [1].…”

“…Second, durability experiments, where an example of the application of load changes according to the New European Driving Cycle (once adapted to fuel cells as indicated in [2]) is provided. This data set contains data of the polarization curve at the beginning of the test and at the end of the test in order to assess the eventual cell degradation, which was discussed in Ramírez-Cruzado et al [1].…”

“…Table 1. Operating conditions defined for the fuel cell (according to the testing protocol [2]) [1]. The dataset was obtained during cell testing research work corresponding to the development of the funded research projects referenced at the end of this paper:…”