PEMFC for aeronautic applications: A review on the durability aspects

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) not only offer more efficient electrical energy conversion, relative to on-ground/backup turbines but generate by-products useful in aircraft such as heat for ice prevention, deoxygenated air for fire retardation and drinkable water for use on-board. Consequently, several projects (e.g. DLR-H2 Antares and RAPID2000) have successfully tested PEMFC-powered auxiliary unit (APU) for manned/unmanned aircraft. Despite the progress from flying PEMFC-powered small aircraft with 20 kW power output as high as 1 000 m at 100 km/h to 33 kW at 2 558 m, 176 km/h [1-3], durability and reliability remain key challenges. This review reports on the inadequate understanding of behaviour of PEMFC under aeronautic conditions and the lack of predictive methods conducive for aircraft that provide real-time information on the State of Health of PEMFCs. Highlights: The main research findings are -To minimize performance loss due to high altitude and inclination by adjusting cathode stoichiometric ratio. -To improve quality of oxygen-depleted air by controlling operating temperature and stoichiometric ratio. -Need to devise real time prediction methods conducive for determining PEMFC SoH in aircraft.

A Review of Recent Developments and Advanced Applications of High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for PEM Fuel Cells

“…[28,36,227]. PEMFCs have recently been used in aeronautic applications such as silent operations, where they can reduce the noise generated in the airports and help personnel who are inadvertently working under such conditions [236]. Recently, PEMFCs have been used to fabricate portable and wearable fuel cells for soldier use [237].…”

Effects of Various Operating Parameters on the Performance of an Air Breathing PEM Fuel Cell

“…The three major losses are: activation polarization, concentration polarization, ohmic polarization. [6][7][8][9]…”

A novel approach for PEM fuel cell parameter estimation using LSHADE ‐ EpSin optimization algorithm

“…In recent research studies, many authors have presented various solutions to face these challenges to promote better combustion-based micro power generation systems, such as Zuo et al 8,9 and Li et al 10 However, to date, PEMFCs have prominent characteristics that still deploy their power and transportation applications. 11 Among the various FC types and technologies, proton exchange membrane FCs (PEMFCs) have prominent characteristics that make them unique in microcombined heat, power, and energy applications, in-board vehicles and on-board aircraft applications in the transportation sector, and light-weight portable electronic engineering applications [12][13][14] However, PEMFC systems considerably depend on the operating conditions. For instance, their temperature level varies from 50 to 80 C and efficiency varies between 30% and 60% based on the operating conditions.…”

“…Among the various FC types and technologies, proton exchange membrane FCs (PEMFCs) have prominent characteristics that make them unique in micro‐combined heat, power, and energy applications, in‐board vehicles and on‐board aircraft applications in the transportation sector, and light‐weight portable electronic engineering applications 12‐14 However, PEMFC systems considerably depend on the operating conditions. For instance, their temperature level varies from 50 to 80°C and efficiency varies between 30% and 60% based on the operating conditions 9,14 …”