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Development of 130 kW Self-Humidifying Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System

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Proceedings of the 10th Hydrogen Technology Convention, Volume 3 (WHTC 2023)

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Abstract

Replacing external humidifiers with self-humidification technology can simplify the structure of fuel cell systems and improve their cost-effectiveness. This paper analyzes a feasible method for achieving self-humidification at the system level, suggesting that membrane drying can be prevented by increasing the hydrogen circulation pump revolutions, reducing the air stoichiometric ratio, and controlling the stack temperature. A theoretical design for each subsystem of the 130 kW PEMFC-based self-humidifying fuel cell system was also proposed. The system was built and tested under steady-state conditions, achieving an efficiency of 86.7% under the rated power. Additionally, the stack's high-frequency resistance, voltage, and cathode/anode pressure drop were measured to analyze the water content status inside. The results indicate that the high-frequency resistance of the stack was 57.17 mΩ·cm2, and the single-cell voltage difference was 0.03 V, which means no membrane drying failure occurred under the rated power. The construction of the 130 kW self-humidifying fuel cell system described in this paper provides guidance for designing and integrating self-humidification systems based on PEMFC.

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Correspondence to Weikang Lin .

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Ma, T., Qi, J., Gu, Z., Du, C., Lin, W. (2024). Development of 130 kW Self-Humidifying Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System. In: Sun, H., Pei, W., Dong, Y., Yu, H., You, S. (eds) Proceedings of the 10th Hydrogen Technology Convention, Volume 3. WHTC 2023. Springer Proceedings in Physics, vol 395. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8581-4_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-8581-4_28

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-99-8580-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-99-8581-4

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