Numerical Research on the Cold Start-up Strategy of a PEMFC Stack from –30°C

  • LEI Le ,
  • HE Pu ,
  • HE Peng ,
  • TAO Wen-quan
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  • Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center for PEMFC Performance Improvement, Key Laboratory of Thermal Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

网络出版日期: 2023-11-20

基金资助

This work is supported by the key project of NNSFC (51836005), the International Exchange Cooperation Project of NSFC-STINT (5191153015), the Basic research Project of Shaanxi Province (2019ZDXM3-01), the Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51721004) and 111 Project (B16038).

版权

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

Numerical Research on the Cold Start-up Strategy of a PEMFC Stack from –30°C

  • LEI Le ,
  • HE Pu ,
  • HE Peng ,
  • TAO Wen-quan
Expand
  • Shaanxi Collaborative Innovation Center for PEMFC Performance Improvement, Key Laboratory of Thermal Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Online published: 2023-11-20

Supported by

This work is supported by the key project of NNSFC (51836005), the International Exchange Cooperation Project of NSFC-STINT (5191153015), the Basic research Project of Shaanxi Province (2019ZDXM3-01), the Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51721004) and 111 Project (B16038).

Copyright

Science Press, Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, CAS and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022

摘要

质子交换膜燃料电池(PEMFC)堆从零下温度冷启动被认为是其广泛商业应用的重大障碍之一。在冷启动过程中,随着氢/氧化学反应的进行,生成水会冻结成冰占据多孔电极的孔隙,从而导致输出性能迅速恶化,甚至使冷启动失败。本文中,采用一维瞬态数值模型研究PEMFC堆从-30 ℃开始的冷启动过程。过程中采用阶梯式电流加载方式,并考虑辅助预热方法,探索成功冷启动的最佳操作条件。通过将数值结果与参考实验数据进行对比,数值结果与实验数据吻合较好。研究结果发现,对所研究的条件,最佳加热功率为100 W;随着初始电流斜率的增加,电流峰值增加,但冷启动过程失败;此外,启动时间和冰体积分数高度依赖于初始电流斜率。最佳初始电流斜率为 0.7A s-1;此外,较高的初始电流斜率将导致内欧姆电阻增大;其中,阳极催化剂层的电阻是总欧姆电阻的关键和主要部分。研究细节和分析结果将有助于设计PEMFC电堆从-30 ℃启动的冷启动策略。

本文引用格式

LEI Le , HE Pu , HE Peng , TAO Wen-quan . Numerical Research on the Cold Start-up Strategy of a PEMFC Stack from –30°C[J]. 热科学学报, 2023 , 32(3) : 898 -910 . DOI: 10.1007/s11630-022-1712-8

Abstract

The cold start-up of the PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) stack from sub-zero temperature is considered one of the significant obstacles to its expansive commercial applications. In the cold start-up process, with the progress of hydrogen/oxygen chemical reaction, the produced water will freeze into ice, occupying the pores of the porous electrode, thus leading to a rapid deterioration of output performance and even making the cold start-up fail. In this work, a one-dimensional numerical model is adopted to study a cold start-up process of the PMEFC stack starting from –30°C. The stepwise-changed current loading mode is employed in the process. An assisted preheating method is used to explore an optimal operating condition for a successful cold start-up. The numerical results are validated by comparing the numerical result with the experimental data in reference, and they agree with the experimental data very well. The results show that the optimal heating power in the studied range is 100 W. As the initial current slope increased, the current peak value increased, but the cold start-up process failed. Also, the start-up time and ice volume fraction are highly dependent on the initial current slope. The optimal initial current slope is 0.7 A/s. Besides, a higher initial current slope will cause a significant inner ohmic resistance. The resistance of CLa (catalyst layer of the anode) is the key and primary part of the total ohmic resistance. The details of the research and the analyzed results will help design the cold start-up strategy for the PEMFC stack start-up from –30°C.

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