IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v393y2025ics0306261925008724.html

A review on thermal management strategy for liquid-cooling proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Temperature regulation and cold start

Author

Listed:
  • Su, Hongye
  • Xu, Haisong
  • Wang, Lei
  • Liu, Zhiyang
  • Xie, Lei

Abstract

Effective thermal management strategies are crucial for optimizing the performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). This paper presents a comprehensive review of thermal management strategies for liquid-cooling PEMFCs, with a particular emphasis on temperature regulation and cold start operations. Firstly, the fundamental thermal characteristics of PEMFCs under both above-freezing and sub-freezing temperatures are introduced, followed by an overview of both offline and online identification methods for thermal system models. Subsequently, considering the intrinsic nonlinearity and coupling characteristics of PEMFC thermal systems, along with the presence of diverse internal and external disturbances, various temperature control strategies are reviewed and classified from four perspectives: (1) exploring the relationship between optimal operational temperature and overall performance of PEMFCs, (2) managing the coupling effects in multiple input multiple output cooling systems, (3) enhancing system robustness against disturbances and uncertainties, and (4) reducing the parasitic power consumption of the cooling system. Strategies can be classified into categories such as model-based, data-driven, and adaptive types, based on their underlying mechanisms. From the perspective of cold start strategies, the review explores the efficient and rapid start-up techniques that ensure temperature uniformity and voltage consistency within the fuel cell stack. The importance of shutdown purging for water removal is highlighted as a critical measure to prevent ice formation and facilitate subsequent start-ups. In conclusion, current research status on PEMFC thermal management strategies is summarized. Furthermore, future directions for advancing thermal management systems in PEMFCs are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Su, Hongye & Xu, Haisong & Wang, Lei & Liu, Zhiyang & Xie, Lei, 2025. "A review on thermal management strategy for liquid-cooling proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Temperature regulation and cold start," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 393(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:393:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925008724
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126142
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925008724
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.126142?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhao, Jian & Li, Xianguo & Shum, Chris & McPhee, John, 2023. "Control-oriented computational fuel cell dynamics modeling – Model order reduction vs. computational speed," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    2. Park, Jin Young & Lim, In Seop & Choi, Eun Jung & Kim, Min Soo, 2021. "Fault diagnosis of thermal management system in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    3. Kuo Yang & Yugui Tang & Zhen Zhang, 2021. "Parameter Identification and State-of-Charge Estimation for Lithium-Ion Batteries Using Separated Time Scales and Extended Kalman Filter," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-15, February.
    4. Gong, Zhichao & Wang, Bowen & Xu, Yifan & Ni, Meng & Gao, Qingchen & Hou, Zhongjun & Cai, Jun & Gu, Xin & Yuan, Xinjie & Jiao, Kui, 2022. "Adaptive optimization strategy of air supply for automotive polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell in life cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    5. Lei Pan & Tong Zhang & Yuan Gao, 2023. "Real-Time Control of Gas Supply System for a PEMFC Cold-Start Based on the MADDPG Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-20, June.
    6. Wu, Horng-Wen, 2016. "A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 81-106.
    7. Cao, Qiming & Min, Haitao & Sun, Weiyi & Zhao, Honghui & Yu, Yuanbin & Zhang, Zhaopu & Jiang, Junyu, 2024. "A method of combining active and passive strategies by genetic algorithm in multi-stage cold start of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Wu, Kangcheng & Du, Qing & Zu, Bingfeng & Wang, Yupeng & Cai, Jun & Gu, Xin & Xuan, Jin & Jiao, Kui, 2021. "Enabling real-time optimization of dynamic processes of proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Data-driven approach with semi-recurrent sliding window method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    10. Yu, Sangseok & Jung, Dohoy, 2008. "Thermal management strategy for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system with a large active cell area," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2540-2548.
    11. Sun, Li & Jin, Yuhui & You, Fengqi, 2020. "Active disturbance rejection temperature control of open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    12. Zang, Linfeng & Hao, Liang & Zhu, Xiaojing, 2023. "Effect of the pore structure of cathode catalyst layer on the PEM fuel cell cold start process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    13. Yanbo Yang & Tiancai Ma & Boyu Du & Weikang Lin & Naiyuan Yao, 2021. "Investigation on the Operating Conditions of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Based on Constant Voltage Cold Start Mode," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-10, January.
    14. Tang, Xingwang & Zhang, Yujia & Xu, Sichuan, 2023. "Experimental study of PEM fuel cell temperature characteristic and corresponding automated optimal temperature calibration model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    15. Xu, Sheng & Yin, Bifeng & Li, Zekai & Dong, Fei, 2023. "A review on gas purge of proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Mechanisms, experimental approaches, numerical approaches, and optimization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    16. Zhong, Di & Lin, Rui & Jiang, Zhenghua & Zhu, Yike & Liu, Dengchen & Cai, Xin & Chen, Liang, 2020. "Low temperature durability and consistency analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack based on comprehensive characterizations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    17. Esbo, M. Rahimi- & Ranjbar, A.A. & Rahgoshay, S.M., 2020. "Analysis of water management in PEM fuel cell stack at dead-end mode using direct visualization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 212-221.
    18. Huo, Sen & Jiao, Kui & Park, Jae Wan, 2019. "On the water transport behavior and phase transition mechanisms in cold start operation of PEM fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 776-788.
    19. Yang, Yang & Yu, Xiaoran & Zhu, Wenchao & Xie, Changjun & Zhao, Bo & Zhang, Leiqi & Shi, Ying & Huang, Liang & Zhang, Ruiming, 2023. "Degradation prediction of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with model uncertainty quantification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P2).
    20. Lin, Rui & Zhong, Di & Lan, Shunbo & Guo, Rong & Ma, Yunyang & Cai, Xin, 2021. "Experimental validation for enhancement of PEMFC cold start performance: Based on the optimization of micro porous layer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    21. Pang, Yiheng & Hao, Liang & Wang, Yun, 2022. "Convolutional neural network analysis of radiography images for rapid water quantification in PEM fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    22. Lin, Rui & Zhu, Yike & Ni, Meng & Jiang, Zhenghua & Lou, Diming & Han, Lihang & Zhong, Di, 2019. "Consistency analysis of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack during cold start," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 420-432.
    23. Xu, Boshi & Yang, Yang & Li, Jun & Ye, Dingding & Wang, Yang & Zhang, Liang & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2024. "A comprehensive study of parameters distribution in a short PEM water electrolyzer stack utilizing a full-scale multi-physics model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    24. Fan, Ruijia & Chang, Guofeng & Xu, Yiming & Zhang, Yuanzhi, 2024. "Investigating the transient electrical behaviors in PEM fuel cells under various platinum distributions within cathode catalyst layers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    25. Yu, Sangseok & Jung, Dohoy, 2010. "A study of operation strategy of cooling module with dynamic fuel cell system model for transportation application," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 2525-2532.
    26. Melnik, Daniel & Bürger, Inga & Mitzel, Jens & Käß, Julian & Sarkezi-Selsky, Patrick & Jahnke, Thomas & Knöri, Torsten, 2024. "Energy efficient cold start of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell coupled to a thermochemical metal hydride preheater," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 359(C).
    27. Amamou, A. & Kandidayeni, M. & Boulon, L. & Kelouwani, S., 2018. "Real time adaptive efficient cold start strategy for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 21-30.
    28. Daud, W.R.W. & Rosli, R.E. & Majlan, E.H. & Hamid, S.A.A. & Mohamed, R. & Husaini, T., 2017. "PEM fuel cell system control: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 620-638.
    29. Xu, Jiamin & Zhang, Caizhi & Wan, Zhongmin & Chen, Xi & Chan, Siew Hwa & Tu, Zhengkai, 2022. "Progress and perspectives of integrated thermal management systems in PEM fuel cell vehicles: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    30. Xu, Haisong & Wang, Lei & Xie, Lei & Su, Hongye & Lu, Jianshan & Liu, Zhiyang, 2024. "Freeze start of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems with closed-loop purging and improved voltage consistency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    31. H. Eduardo Ariza & Antonio Correcher & Carlos Sánchez & Ángel Pérez-Navarro & Emilio García, 2018. "Thermal and Electrical Parameter Identification of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Using Genetic Algorithm," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.
    32. Rahmani, Ebrahim & Moradi, Tofigh & Ghandehariun, Samane & Naterer, Greg F. & Ranjbar, Amirhossein, 2023. "Enhanced mass transfer and water discharge in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with a raccoon channel flow field," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    33. Pei, Yaowang & Chen, Fengxiang & Jiao, Jieran & Liu, Shiguang, 2024. "Analysis and control strategy design for PEMFC purging process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    34. 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).
    35. Peng Zhou & Ishtiaque Ahmed Navid & Yongjin Ma & Yixin Xiao & Ping Wang & Zhengwei Ye & Baowen Zhou & Kai Sun & Zetian Mi, 2023. "Solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of more than 9% in photocatalytic water splitting," Nature, Nature, vol. 613(7942), pages 66-70, January.
    36. Li, Dazi & Yu, Yadi & Jin, Qibing & Gao, Zhiqiang, 2014. "Maximum power efficiency operation and generalized predictive control of PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 210-217.
    37. Liu, Zhongyong & Sun, Yuning & Tang, Xiawei & Mao, Lei, 2024. "Enabling unsupervised fault diagnosis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack: Knowledge transfer from single-cell to stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).
    38. Tian, Pengjie & Liu, Xuejun & Luo, Kaiyao & Li, Hongkun & Wang, Yun, 2021. "Deep learning from three-dimensional multiphysics simulation in operational optimization and control of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell for maximum power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 288(C).
    39. Liu, Zhaoming & Chang, Guofeng & Yuan, Hao & Tang, Wei & Xie, Jiaping & Wei, Xuezhe & Dai, Haifeng, 2023. "Adaptive look-ahead model predictive control strategy of vehicular PEMFC thermal management," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    40. Tao, Jianjian & Zhang, Yihan & Wei, Xuezhe & Jiang, Shangfeng & Dai, Haifeng, 2024. "Optimization of fast cold start strategy for PEM fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 362(C).
    41. Rezk, Hegazy & Ferahtia, Seydali & Djeroui, Ali & Chouder, Aissa & Houari, Azeddine & Machmoum, Mohamed & Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali, 2022. "Optimal parameter estimation strategy of PEM fuel cell using gradient-based optimizer," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    42. Yang, Bo & Liang, Boxiao & Qian, Yucun & Zheng, Ruyi & Su, Shi & Guo, Zhengxun & Jiang, Lin, 2024. "Parameter identification of PEMFC via feedforward neural network-pelican optimization algorithm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 361(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fitri Adi Iskandarianto & Djatmiko Ichsani & Fadlilatul Taufany, 2025. "Thermal and Fluid Flow Performance Optimization of a Multi-Fin Multi-Channel Cooling System for PEMFC Using CFD and Experimental Validation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-21, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu, Yongsheng & Zheng, Weibo & Li, Bing & Zhang, Cunman & Ming, Pingwen, 2025. "A comprehensive review of cold start in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells: Challenges, strategies, and prospects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 390(C).
    2. Xu, Haisong & Wang, Lei & Xie, Lei & Su, Hongye & Lu, Jianshan & Liu, Zhiyang, 2024. "Freeze start of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems with closed-loop purging and improved voltage consistency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    3. He, Pu & Zhang, Qianxi & Mu, Yutong & Qu, Zhiguo & Yin, Jinzhou & Li, Ziai & Yang, Weiwei & Cai, Saijie & Chen, Junhong & Tao, Wenquan, 2025. "Experimental investigation on the impact of ambient temperature and current load rate on the cold start behavior of a short PEMFC stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 396(C).
    4. Wu, Kangcheng & Du, Qing & Zu, Bingfeng & Wang, Yupeng & Cai, Jun & Gu, Xin & Xuan, Jin & Jiao, Kui, 2021. "Enabling real-time optimization of dynamic processes of proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Data-driven approach with semi-recurrent sliding window method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    5. Yang, Liu & Cao, Chenxi & Gan, Quanquan & Pei, Hao & Zhang, Qi & Li, Ping, 2022. "Revealing failure modes and effect of catalyst layer properties for PEM fuel cell cold start using an agglomerate model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    6. Fu, Hao & Kong, Fang & Wu, Feng & Wu, Xiao & Shen, Jiong, 2025. "Dynamic modeling and comprehensive analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems with complete auxiliary system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    7. Lin, Rui & Zhong, Di & Lan, Shunbo & Guo, Rong & Ma, Yunyang & Cai, Xin, 2021. "Experimental validation for enhancement of PEMFC cold start performance: Based on the optimization of micro porous layer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    8. Pei, Yaowang & Chen, Fengxiang & Jiao, Jieran & Ye, Huan & Zhang, Caizhi & Jiang, Xiaojie, 2024. "Fuel cell temperature control based on nonlinear transformation mitigating system nonlinearity," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    9. Tao, Xingxiao & Zeng, Zhen & Gao, Wei & Yan, Changzhi & Liu, Huaiyu & Sun, Kai & Che, Zhizhao & Wang, Tianyou, 2025. "Experimental study of cold start of PEM fuel cell with non-uniform metal foam flow field," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 389(C).
    10. Yang, Zirong & Jiao, Kui & Wu, Kangcheng & Shi, Weilong & Jiang, Shangfeng & Zhang, Longhai & Du, Qing, 2021. "Numerical investigations of assisted heating cold start strategies for proton exchange membrane fuel cell systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    11. Lu, Chihua & Li, Chenyu & Liu, Zhien & Li, Yongchao & Zhou, Hui & Zheng, Hao, 2025. "A review on applications of optical visualization technologies for water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    12. Zhao, Chen & Wang, Fei & Wu, Xiaoyu, 2024. "Analysis and review on air-cooled open cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Bibliometric, environmental adaptation and prospect," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    13. Najmi, Aezid-Ul-Hassan & Wahab, Abdul & Prakash, Rohith & Schopen, Oliver & Esch, Thomas & Shabani, Bahman, 2025. "Thermal management of fuel cell-battery electric vehicles: Challenges and solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 387(C).
    14. Pei, Yaowang & Chen, Fengxiang & Zhou, Su & Huo, Haibo & Ye, Huan, 2025. "Inlet gas flow, pressure and temperature control technology for PEMFC stack testing platforms," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    15. Li, Bin & Wu, Zhangxi & Li, Ye & He, Jiawei & Wang, Bowen & Jiao, Kui & Hu, Xinhang & Fan, Hui & Wu, Jianzhong, 2025. "Thermal-water-electrical coupling modeling of PEMFC and its dynamic performance analysis under different operating conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 398(C).
    16. Deng, Zhihua & Miao, Bin & Cui, Yunjia & Chen, Jian & Pan, Zehua & Liu, Hao & Deendarlianto, Deendarlianto & Suwarno, Suwarno & Chan, Siew Hwa, 2025. "Towards high-performance fuel cell systems: Comprehensive review of methods for modeling, control, and optimization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    17. Pengcheng Liu & Sichuan Xu, 2022. "Experimental Research on the Dynamic Characteristics and Voltage Uniformity of a PEMFC Stack under Subzero Temperatures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-14, April.
    18. Tu, Xikai & Lv, Jin & Wu, Jin & Luo, Xiaobing & Tu, Zhengkai, 2025. "Experimental investigation of a novel open cathode air-cooled fuel cell stack design featuring simultaneous inlet blowing and outlet suction," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    19. Pei, Yaowang & Chen, Fengxiang & Jiao, Jieran & Liu, Shiguang, 2024. "Analysis and control strategy design for PEMFC purging process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 290(C).
    20. Bai, Xingying & Luo, Lizhong & Huang, Bi & Huang, Zhe & Jian, Qifei, 2021. "Flow characteristics analysis for multi-path hydrogen supply within proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:393:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925008724. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.