Effects of hydrogen intake pressure on performance of air-cooled PEMFC

doi:10.11949/0438-1157.20230621

Abstract

Abstract:

The air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has the characteristics of self-humidification, light mass, and simple system operation, and is suitable for use in fields such as drones. Hydrogen intake pressure plays an important role in the performance of the air-cooled PEMFC stack. Based on 1 kW air-cooled PEMFC stack, the influence of different hydrogen inlet pressures on the performances of the single cell voltage and distribution, output voltage and power of stack, and hydrogen utilization efficiency were considered. The experimental results indicate that the values of the single cell voltage, output voltage and power of stack are an upward trend with improving inlet gas pressure. Besides, the single cell voltage is in good agreement under high current. Moreover, increasing the inlet pressure decreased the hydrogen utilization while the experiment uses drainage method to collect exhaust gas and calculate hydrogen utilization rate.

Key words: air-cooled PEMFC stack, intake pressure, cell performance, hydrogen utilization rate

摘要：

空冷型质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）具有自增湿、质量轻、系统操作简单等特点，适合应用于无人机等领域。氢气进气压力是影响空冷型PEMFC电堆性能的一个重要因素。以1 kW阴极开放式空冷型PEMFC电堆为研究对象，对比了不同氢气进气压力对单片电池电压及其一致性、电堆输出电压、输出功率以及氢气利用率的影响。研究结果表明，氢气进气压力越高，单片电池电压、电堆输出电压和功率越高，大电流下单片电池电压的一致性越好；此外，本实验利用排水法收集阳极尾气并计算氢气利用率，氢气进气压力越高，系统氢气利用率越低。

关键词: 空冷电堆, 进气压力, 电池性能, 氢气利用率

CLC Number:

TQ 028.8

Li ZHANG, Wenrong SHI, Qi LIANG, Yang LIU, Zhongfeng XIA, Zhen GUO. Effects of hydrogen intake pressure on performance of air-cooled PEMFC[J]. CIESC Journal, 2023, 74(11): 4730-4738.

张丽, 石文荣, 梁琦, 刘阳, 夏中峰, 郭振. 氢气进气压力对空冷PEMFC性能的影响[J]. 化工学报, 2023, 74(11): 4730-4738.

Figures/Tables 15

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of PEMFC test platform

Table 1 Operation parameter settings

参数	数值
氢气	>99.99%；高压储氢瓶经减压阀供应
进气压力	0.05~0.08 MPa
输出电流	0~42 A
输出电压	不小于24 V
电堆温度	＜65℃

Table 2 Exhaust time and exhaust frequency of fuel cells

电流/A	温度/℃	排气时长/s	排气间隔/s
5	42	0.1	10
10	43	0.1
15	44	0.1
20	45	0.1
25	50	0.3
30	53	0.4
35	56	0.4

Fig.2 Polarization curves of air-cooled PEMFC under different hydrogen intake pressures

Fig.3 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on single cell voltage

Table 3 The σ value of single cell voltage with different hydrogen intake pressure

电流/A	氢气进口压力/MPa	平均单电池电压μ/V	σ/V
10	0.05	0.665	0.0027
10	0.08	0.717	0.0048
15	0.05	0.643	0.0033
15	0.08	0.670	0.0083
20	0.05	0.620	0.0081
20	0.08	0.631	0.0143
25	0.05	0.609	0.0101
25	0.08	0.619	0.0077
30	0.05	0.586	0.0092
30	0.08	0.598	0.0085
35	0.05	0.565	0.0112
35	0.08	0.574	0.0091

Fig.4 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on voltage standard deviation of single cell

Fig.5 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on stack voltage

Fig.6 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on the percentage rise of stack voltage

Fig.7 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on stack output power

Fig.8 Device diagram of hydrogen utilization rate determination by drainage method

Table 4 Measurement of anode tail gas emission of air-cooled PEMFC by drainage method

电流/A	氢气进气压力/MPa	排气间隔/s	排气时间/s	排气次数/s	氢气平均体积V/(L/min)	尾气排放的氢气质量 $m H 2 排$ /(g/min)
25	0.05	10	0.03	10	0.514	0.042
25	0.08		0.03	10	0.743	0.061
30	0.05		0.04	10	0.684	0.056
30	0.08		0.04	5	0.985	0.081
35	0.05		0.04	5	0.795	0.066
35	0.08		0.04	5	1.289	0.106

Table 4 Measurement of anode tail gas emission of air-cooled PEMFC by drainage method

电流/A	氢气进气压力/MPa	排气间隔/s	排气时间/s	排气次数/s	氢气平均体积V/(L/min)	尾气排放的氢气质量 $m H 2 排$ /(g/min)
25	0.05	10	0.03	10	0.514	0.042
25	0.08		0.03	10	0.743	0.061
30	0.05		0.04	10	0.684	0.056
30	0.08		0.04	5	0.985	0.081
35	0.05		0.04	5	0.795	0.066
35	0.08		0.04	5	1.289	0.106

Table 5 Hydrogen utilization rate of air-cooled PEMFC

电流/A	入口氢气压力/MPa	实际利用的氢气量 $m 实$ /(g/min)	尾气排放的氢气质量 $m H 2 排$ /(g/min)	氢气利用率/%
25	0.05	0.725	0.042	94.52
25	0.08	0.725	0.061	92.24
30	0.05	0.902	0.056	94.15
30	0.08	0.902	0.081	91.76
35	0.05	1.053	0.066	94.10
35	0.08	1.053	0.106	90.85

Table 5 Hydrogen utilization rate of air-cooled PEMFC

电流/A	入口氢气压力/MPa	实际利用的氢气量 $m 实$ /(g/min)	尾气排放的氢气质量 $m H 2 排$ /(g/min)	氢气利用率/%
25	0.05	0.725	0.042	94.52
25	0.08	0.725	0.061	92.24
30	0.05	0.902	0.056	94.15
30	0.08	0.902	0.081	91.76
35	0.05	1.053	0.066	94.10
35	0.08	1.053	0.106	90.85

Fig.9 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on exhaust emissions

Fig.10 Effect of hydrogen intake pressure on hydrogen utilization

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