Publication

Abstract

The proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) have been incorporated to a wide range of portable, stationary and automotive applications. However, PEMFC are still not accepted as a practical power generator. The key challenge is to reduce the cost and achieve a high performance and long life of the cells. Variations in the concentrations of reactants, as well as temperature, have significant effects on the performance and durability of PEMFC. All these variables exhibit spatial dependence along the channel, which needs to be taken into account in order to progress towards a PEMFC operation that is efficient and mitigates degradation. To this end, a controlled PEM fuel cell study is done through a distributed parameter simulation model. A conventional stoichiometry control objective is considered in order to analyze the behavior of spatial profiles of some important variables and, therefore, point out the importance of considering distributed parameter models in control design.

Categories

control theory, power system control.

Author keywords

PEMFC, distributed parameter modeling, PEMFC control

Scientific reference

M.L. Sarmiento-Carnevali, M. Serra and C. Batlle. Analysis of conventionally controlled PEMFC based on a distributed parameter model, 4th Iberian Symposium on Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Advanced Batteries, 2013, Estoril, Portugal.