-30 °C start-up of a PEFC stack based on alternate hydrogen pump method

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-8484.2021.04.020

Abstract

Abstract:

Starting a fuel cell vehicle (FEV) under sub-zero temperature is one of the main obstacles to popularize FEVs in temperate and cold regions. This paper investigated the sub-zero start-up for a short stack of graphite-based bipolar plate polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) with 20 single cells and an active area of 285 cm². Developed a power supply system by using an alternate hydrogen pump based on a real vehicle, with supplying hydrogen to the anode and the cathode of a short stack at the same time in a low-temperature environment chamber to create a -30 °C start-up environment. The initial molecule-number content of membrane to water, the alternating electric amplitude and the frequency were three control parameters to achieve the -30°C start-up of the PEFC short stack. The polarization curves of the short stack were tested before and after the sub-zero start-up. The results show that the single cell reaches 0 °C in 80 s in the middle of a short PEFC stack, and rises to 0 °C in 200 s in the other places of the stack. There is basically no polarization attenuation in the stack before and after the sub-zero start-up.

Key words: fuel cell vehicles (FEVs), polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), graphite-based bipolar plate stack, alternate hydrogen pump method, sub-zero start-up

CLC Number:

M911

SI Dechun, JIAN Jiting, XU Haosen, WANG Shangshang, WANG Cheng, ZHANG Jianbo. -30 °C start-up of a PEFC stack based on alternate hydrogen pump method[J]. Journal of Automotive Safety and Energy, 2021, 12(4): 604-612.

Figures/Tables 13

References 24

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