PEFC System Reactant Gas Supply Management and Anode Purging Strategy: An Experimental Approach

In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently h...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEnergies (Basel) Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 288
Main Authors Khan, Naseruddin, Al-Sagheer, Yousif, Steinberger-Wilckens, Robert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.01.2022
Subjects
Alternative energy
Anodes
control systems
Energy industry
Fuel cells
Fuel technology
Gas flow
Gases
Humidity
Hydrogen
hydrogen purging
Modelling
Nitrogen
PEFC system
Polymers
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Purging
Subsystems
water management
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently has a direct effect on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system efficiency. Therefore, the minimisation of parasitic loads while maintaining desired performance is crucial. Nevertheless, little has been found in the literature regarding experimental work on large stacks and BoP, with the majority of papers concentrating on modelling. A particular interest of our study was the anode side of the fuel cell. Additionally the rationale behind the use of hydrogen anode recirculation was scrutinised, and a novel anode purging strategy was developed and implemented. Through experimental modelling, the use of cathode air blower was minimised since it was found to be the biggest contributor to the parasitic loads.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en15010288