Performance Of A Pem Fuel Cell System

A PEM fuel cell system was recently added to the Energy Systems Laboratory at Kettering University (formerly GMI).The educational objectives of this experiment are to familiarize the students with the principles and operation of a PEM fuel cell, to compare the power output efficiency of the fuel cell with that of an IC engine, to determine the effect of current density on stack and individual cell voltages, to determine the effect of hydrogen flow rate on the stack power output and to determine the effect of stack temperature on the stack power output.The apparatus used is the TVN RU-2100 Test Stand which uses a three-cell stack.The stack consists of three membrane and electrode assemblies (MEA's) in series.The maximum power output of this unit is about 25 Watts.It uses hydrogen and air to provide electrical power to a variable load.This system can be controlled and data can be acquired manually or through a computer.By using basic definitions as well as the first law of thermodynamics, current density, open-cell voltage and stack efficiency are determined for the fuel cell stack.This paper presents measured test data and analytical results obtained by using the principles of thermodynamics.Experimental results compare favorably with theoretical predictions and expectations.