Design of a 100W PEM fuel cell test system : control of PEM fuel cells Part 2

Fuel cells have the potential to provide distributed power generation. Four types of fuel cells are currently receiving the most development attention: proton exchange membrane fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, and solid oxide fuel cells. The technical characteristics, economic feasibility and infrastructure requirements of PEM fuel cell applications are impacted greatly by the fuel chosen: Hydrogen, methanol, and gasoline or related petroleum distillate fuels. The efficiency of the PEM fuel cell can be greatly affected by different operating conditions. To better understand operating characteristics and competitiveness of PEM fuel cells, the development of fuel cell test station is therefore necessary for further investigations and facilitating the development of efficient PEM fuel cells. This report describes the design of a 100 W PEM fuel cell test system which can be used for both studying of fuel cell models and for measuring the fuel cell model parameters. The test apparatus is design for stack performance testing, model evaluation, and investigation of new fuel cell technology. The apparatus are able to measure and control the mass flow rates of the reactant gases, gas pressures, gas temperatures, gas relative humidity, stack temperature, stack current. The wide operating range of the fuel cell test system is such that a variety of control strategies may be implemented and tested. In the report, main difficulties in the design of the PEM fuel cell test system are presented and options for further development work are discussed.Bachelor of Engineerin