Experimental fuel cell performance analysis under different operating conditions and bipolar plate designs

Iranzo Paricio, José Alfredo; Muñoz, Miguel; López, Eduardo; Pino Lucena, Francisco Javier; Rosa Iglesias, Manuel Felipe

doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.05.056

Experimental fuel cell performance analysis under different operating conditions and bipolar plate designs

Iranzo Paricio, José Alfredo; Muñoz, Miguel; López, Eduardo; Pino Lucena, Francisco Javier; Rosa Iglesias, Manuel Felipe

Published: 2010
Publisher: Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.05.056
Repository: idus.us.es
Language: en

Abstract

This work presents experimental performance results for a 50 cm2 Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell, including polarization curves and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) analysis of the Fuel Cell. EIS results were used for the determination of the cell ohmic resistance as well as charge transfer resistances under different operating conditions. Different combinations of operating conditions and bipolar plate designs were analysed. In particular, the effect of the cathode oxygen concentration, reactant gases humidification, and bipolar plate (BP) design were assessed. Butler–Volmer (BV) kinetic parameters such as the charge transfer coefficient were also determined from Tafel plots. The electronic contact resistances were measured for both Bipolar Plate designs, and the membrane protonic resistances were calculated. Its dependence on the BP flow field design and operating conditions is addressed. The results obtained in this work are aimed both at gaining insight into the fundamental processes determining the fuel cell performance, and at determining parameters needed for Computational Fuel Cell Dynamics (CFCD) numerical simulations.

Full text

Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla https://idus.us.es/ This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 35, on October 2010, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.05.056 © 2010 Elsevier. En idUS Licencia Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND End of test Data acquisition Stabilize conditions for set-point k Set operating conditions for setpoint K K=K+1 Stop if test variable exceeds emergency value limit 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 Z Im [m ] Z Re [m ] 500 mA/cm2 400 mA/cm2 200 mA/cm2 120 mA/cm2 20 Hz 20 kHz 2 kHz 200 Hz -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 0 2 4 6 8 10 8A Serp Air RH 100% 8A Serp Air RH 60% 8A Serp O2 RH 100% 20 kHz 200 Hz 2 kHz 0.75 0.77 0.79 0.81 0.83 0.85 0.87 0.89 0.91 0.93 0.01 0.1 1 H2/O2 RH 100% H2/Air RH 100% H2/Air RH 60% test 1 H2/Air RH 60% -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 1 10 100 1000 10000 100000 Im Z 500mA/cm2 Im Z 120 mA/cm2