IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i11p3038-d561160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimization of the Relative Humidity of Reactant Gases in Hydrogen Fuel Cells Using Dynamic Impedance Measurements

Author

Listed:
  • Ewa Janicka

    (Department of Electrochemistry, Corrosion and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland)

  • Michal Mielniczek

    (Department of Electrochemistry, Corrosion and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland)

  • Lukasz Gawel

    (Department of Electrochemistry, Corrosion and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland)

  • Kazimierz Darowicki

    (Department of Electrochemistry, Corrosion and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, Gdansk University of Technology, 11/12 Narutowicza, 80-233 Gdansk, Poland)

Abstract

Water management is a key factor affecting the efficiency of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The currently used monitoring methods of PEMFCs provide limited information about which processes or components that humidity has a significant impact upon. Herein, we propose the use of a novel approach of impedance measurements using a multi-sinusoidal perturbation signal, which enables impedance measurements under dynamic operating conditions. The manuscript presents the effect of the relative humidity (RH) of the reactants on the instantaneous impedance of the middle cell in the PEMFC stack as a function of the current load. Analysis of changes in the values of equivalent circuit elements was carried out to determine which process determines the stack’s performance depending on the load range of the fuel cell during operation. Comprehensive impedance analysis showed that to ensure optimal cell operation, the humidity of the reactants should be adjusted depending on the load level. The results showed that at low-current loads, the humidity of gases should be at least 50%, while at high-current loads, the cell should operate optimally at a gas humidity of 30% or lower. The presented methodology provides an important tool for optimizing and monitoring the operation of fuel cells.

Suggested Citation

  • Ewa Janicka & Michal Mielniczek & Lukasz Gawel & Kazimierz Darowicki, 2021. "Optimization of the Relative Humidity of Reactant Gases in Hydrogen Fuel Cells Using Dynamic Impedance Measurements," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:11:p:3038-:d:561160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/11/3038/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/11/3038/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Park, Jaeman & Oh, Hwanyeong & Lee, Yoo Il & Min, Kyoungdoug & Lee, Eunsook & Jyoung, Jy-Young, 2016. "Effect of the pore size variation in the substrate of the gas diffusion layer on water management and fuel cell performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 200-212.
    2. Ferreira, Rui B. & Falcão, D.S. & Oliveira, V.B. & Pinto, A.M.F.R., 2017. "1D+3D two-phase flow numerical model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 474-495.
    3. Panha, Karachakorn & Fowler, Michael & Yuan, Xiao-Zi & Wang, Haijiang, 2012. "Accelerated durability testing via reactants relative humidity cycling on PEM fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 90-97.
    4. Pei, Pucheng & Li, Yuehua & Xu, Huachi & Wu, Ziyao, 2016. "A review on water fault diagnosis of PEMFC associated with the pressure drop," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 366-385.
    5. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Wu, Ziyao & Ren, Peng & Jia, Xiaoning & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Approaches to avoid flooding in association with pressure drop in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 42-51.
    6. Chen Zhang & Wen Li & Mingruo Hu & Xiaofang Cheng & Kai He & Lei Mao, 2020. "A Comparative Study of Using Polarization Curve Models in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Degradation Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Wu, Ziyao & Xu, Huachi & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei, 2017. "Novel approach to determine cathode two-phase-flow pressure drop of proton exchange membrane fuel cell and its application on water management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 713-724.
    8. Ying Tian & Qiang Zou & Jin Han, 2021. "Data-Driven Fault Diagnosis for Automotive PEMFC Systems Based on the Steady-State Identification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, March.
    9. Ikechukwu S. Anyanwu & Yuze Hou & Wenmiao Chen & Fengwen Pan & Qing Du & Jin Xuan & Kui Jiao, 2019. "Numerical Investigation of Liquid Water Transport Dynamics in Novel Hybrid Sinusoidal Flow Channel Designs for PEMFC," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-20, October.
    10. Antonio Sorrentino & Kai Sundmacher & Tanja Vidakovic-Koch, 2020. "Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Degradation Mechanisms and Their Diagnosis by Frequency Response Analysis Methods: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-28, November.
    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. Arkadiusz Szewczyk & Łukasz Gaweł & Kazimierz Darowicki & Janusz Smulko, 2021. "Assessment of Fuel Cells’ State of Health by Low-Frequency Noise Measurements," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Hoang Nghia Vu & Dinh Hoang Trinh & Dat Truong Le Tri & Sangseok Yu, 2023. "Bypass Configurations of Membrane Humidifiers for Water Management in PEM Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-17, October.

    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. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Ma, Ze & Ren, Peng & Wu, Ziyao & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Hao, 2019. "Characteristic analysis in lowering current density based on pressure drop for avoiding flooding in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 321-329.
    2. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Wu, Ziyao & Ren, Peng & Jia, Xiaoning & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Approaches to avoid flooding in association with pressure drop in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 42-51.
    3. Ren, Peng & Pei, Pucheng & Li, Yuehua & Wu, Ziyao & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei & Jia, Xiaoning, 2019. "Diagnosis of water failures in proton exchange membrane fuel cell with zero-phase ohmic resistance and fixed-low-frequency impedance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 785-792.
    4. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Ma, Ze & Ren, Peng & Huang, Hao, 2020. "Analysis of air compression, progress of compressor and control for optimal energy efficiency in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Yanzhou Qin & Xuefeng Wang & Rouxian Chen & Xiang Shangguan, 2018. "Water Transport and Removal in PEMFC Gas Flow Channel with Various Water Droplet Locations and Channel Surface Wettability," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, April.
    6. Hasheminasab, M. & Kermani, M.J. & Nourazar, S.S. & Khodsiani, M.H., 2020. "A novel experimental based statistical study for water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    7. Rostami, Leila & Haghshenasfard, Masoud & Sadeghi, Morteza & Zhiani, Mohammad, 2022. "A 3D CFD model of novel flow channel designs based on the serpentine and the parallel design for performance enhancement of PEMFC," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    8. Pei, Pucheng & Ren, Peng & Li, Yuehua & Wu, Ziyao & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei & Jia, Xiaoning, 2019. "Numerical studies on wide-operating-range ejector based on anodic pressure drop characteristics in proton exchange membrane fuel cell system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 729-738.
    9. Lu Zhang & Yongfeng Liu & Pucheng Pei & Xintong Liu & Long Wang & Yuan Wan, 2022. "Variation Characteristic Analysis of Water Content at the Flow Channel of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-20, April.
    10. Chen, Huicui & Zhang, Ruirui & Xia, Zhifeng & Weng, Qianyao & Zhang, Tong & Pei, Pucheng, 2023. "Experimental investigation on PEM fuel cell flooding mitigation under heavy loading condition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    11. Bai, Fan & Quan, Hong-Bing & Yin, Ren-Jie & Zhang, Zhuo & Jin, Shu-Qi & He, Pu & Mu, Yu-Tong & Gong, Xiao-Ming & Tao, Wen-Quan, 2022. "Three-dimensional multi-field digital twin technology for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    12. Lin, Rui & Diao, Xiaoyu & Ma, Tiancai & Tang, Shenghao & Chen, Liang & Liu, Dengcheng, 2019. "Optimized microporous layer for improving polymer exchange membrane fuel cell performance using orthogonal test design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    13. Niu, Zhiqiang & Bao, Zhiming & Wu, Jingtian & Wang, Yun & Jiao, Kui, 2018. "Two-phase flow in the mixed-wettability gas diffusion layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 443-450.
    14. Huu Linh Nguyen & Jeasu Han & Xuan Linh Nguyen & Sangseok Yu & Young-Mo Goo & Duc Dung Le, 2021. "Review of the Durability of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell in Long-Term Operation: Main Influencing Parameters and Testing Protocols," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-34, July.
    15. Yang, Zirong & Du, Qing & Jia, Zhiwei & Yang, Chunguang & Xuan, Jin & Jiao, Kui, 2019. "A comprehensive proton exchange membrane fuel cell system model integrating various auxiliary subsystems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    16. Wu, Ziyao & Pei, Pucheng & Xu, Huachi & Jia, Xiaoning & Ren, Peng & Wang, Bozheng, 2019. "Study on the effect of membrane electrode assembly parameters on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell performance by galvanostatic charging method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Zhang, Caizhi & Zhang, Yuqi & Wang, Lei & Deng, Xiaozhi & Liu, Yang & Zhang, Jiujun, 2023. "A health management review of proton exchange membrane fuel cell for electric vehicles: Failure mechanisms, diagnosis techniques and mitigation measures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    18. Wu, Horng-Wen & Shih, Gin-Jang & Chen, Yi-Bin, 2018. "Effect of operational parameters on transport and performance of a PEM fuel cell with the best protrusive gas diffusion layer arrangement," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 47-58.
    19. Liu, Yongfeng & Fan, Lei & Pei, Pucheng & Yao, Shengzhuo & Wang, Fang, 2018. "Asymptotic analysis for the inlet relative humidity effects on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 573-584.
    20. Zhao, Jian & Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Alaefour, Ibrahim & Xu, Qian & Li, Xianguo, 2018. "Gas permeability of catalyzed electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 203-210.

    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:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:11:p:3038-:d:561160. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.