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Air-cooled fuel cells: Keys to design and build the oxidant/cooling system

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  • De las Heras, A.
  • Vivas, F.J.
  • Segura, F.
  • Redondo, M.J.
  • Andújar, J.M.

Abstract

In the field of energy, hydrogen as an energetic vector is becoming increasingly important. Specifically, fuel cells powered by hydrogen are becoming an alternative in automotive and other fields because of their ability to produce electricity without any pollution. Therefore, at this time there is a very active research field. A fuel cell can be described as a scale down industrial plant that consists of different subsystems whose purpose is to make the stack works properly. Air Cooled Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (AC-PEFC) are receiving special attention due to their potential to integrate the oxidant and cooling subsystems into one, which in term gives the fuel cells their capability to reduce its weight, volume, cost and control complexity. In these fuel cells, the Oxidant/Cooling subsystem is of crucial importance and along with three others (Fuel, Electrical and Control subsystems) make up the Balance of Plant (BoP), which together with the stack comprise the full fuel cell system. The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive experimental study of an AC-PEFC paying particular attention to the Oxidant/Cooling subsystem configuration. According to the scientific literature, this subsystem has not received the same attention as other subsystems like the Fuel and Control subsystems. However, a suitable design and size is critical for the proper functioning of the stack. The analysis carried out in this paper tries to solve some problems that can appear if the design of the Oxidant/Cooling subsystem has not been optimized. These problems are related to important aspects such as the performance and the efficiency of the whole system and temperature distribution over the stack.

Suggested Citation

  • De las Heras, A. & Vivas, F.J. & Segura, F. & Redondo, M.J. & Andújar, J.M., 2018. "Air-cooled fuel cells: Keys to design and build the oxidant/cooling system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 1-20.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:125:y:2018:i:c:p:1-20
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2018.02.077
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. José-Luis Casteleiro-Roca & Francisco José Vivas & Francisca Segura & Antonio Javier Barragán & Jose Luis Calvo-Rolle & José Manuel Andújar, 2020. "Hybrid Intelligent Modelling in Renewable Energy Sources-Based Microgrid. A Variable Estimation of the Hydrogen Subsystem Oriented to the Energy Management Strategy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-18, December.
    4. Chen, Qin & Zhang, Guobin & Zhang, Xuzhong & Sun, Cheng & Jiao, Kui & Wang, Yun, 2021. "Thermal management of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: A review of cooling methods, material properties, and durability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    5. Alegre, Cinthia & Lozano, Antonio & Manso, Ángel Pérez & Álvarez-Manuel, Laura & Marzo, Florencio Fernández & Barreras, Félix, 2019. "Single cell induced starvation in a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1176-1189.
    6. José-Luis Casteleiro-Roca & Antonio Javier Barragán & Francisca Segura & José Luis Calvo-Rolle & José Manuel Andújar, 2019. "Fuel Cell Output Current Prediction with a Hybrid Intelligent System," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2019, pages 1-10, February.
    7. Zhang, Bo & Lin, Fei & Zhang, Caizhi & Liao, Ruiyue & Wang, Ya-Xiong, 2020. "Design and implementation of model predictive control for an open-cathode fuel cell thermal management system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 1014-1024.
    8. Víctor Sanz i López & Ramon Costa-Castelló & Carles Batlle, 2022. "Literature Review of Energy Management in Combined Heat and Power Systems Based on High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells for Residential Comfort Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Luo, Lizhong & Jian, Qifei & Huang, Bi & Huang, Zipeng & Zhao, Jing & Cao, Songyang, 2019. "Experimental study on temperature characteristics of an air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 1067-1078.
    10. Zhao, Chen & Xing, Shuang & Liu, Wei & Chen, Ming & Wang, Haijiang, 2021. "Performance and thermal optimization of different length-width ratio for air-cooled open-cathode fuel cell," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1250-1260.
    11. Xing, Shuang & Zhao, Chen & Zou, Jiexin & Zaman, Shahid & Yu, Yang & Gong, Hongwei & Wang, Yajun & Chen, Ming & Wang, Min & Lin, Meng & Wang, Haijiang, 2022. "Recent advances in heat and water management of forced-convection open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    12. Song, Ke & Fan, Zhixin & Hu, Xiao & Ding, Yuhang & Li, Haiyang & Xu, Hongjie & Zhang, Tong, 2021. "Effect of adding vortex promoter on the performance improvement of active air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    13. Kurnia, Jundika C. & Chaedir, Benitta A. & Sasmito, Agus P. & Shamim, Tariq, 2021. "Progress on open cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Performance, designs, challenges and future directions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).

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