Study on Fast Cold Start-Up Method of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Based on Electric Heating Technology

Abstract

In order to realize the low temperature and rapid cold start-up of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack, a dynamic model containing 40 single proton exchange membrane fuel cells is established to estimate the melting time of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack as well as to analyze the melting process of the ice by using the obtained liquid–solid boundary. The methods of proton exchange membrane electric heating and electrothermal film heating are utilized to achieve cold start-up of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). The fluid simulation software fluent is used to simulate and analyze the process of melting ice. The solidification and melting model and multi-phase flow model are introduced. The pressure-implicit with splitting of operators algorithm is also adopted. The results show that both the proton exchange membrane electric heating technology and the electrothermal film heating method can achieve rapid cold start-up. The interior ice of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack melts first, while the first and 40th pieces melt afterwards. The ice melting time of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack is 32.5 s and 36.5 s with the two methods, respectively. In the end, the effect of different electrothermal film structures on cold start-up performance is studied, and three types of pore diameter electrothermal films are established. It is found that the electrothermal film with small holes melts completely first, and the electrothermal film with large holes melts completely last.

Review—Subzero Automotive Fuel Cells: Water Fill Tests vs Cold-Starts

“…39 from −10 °C to −30 °C. Several additive ancillary heating strategies have been proposed in the literature: electric heating, 66 hydrogen pump, 67 and alternating current. 68 Temperature-dependent (−5 °C to −30 °C) thermal management strategies have been investigated on a 40-cell stack under potentiostatic control (0.5 V).…”

Fuel cells with an operational range of –20 °C to 200 °C enabled by phosphoric acid-doped intrinsically ultramicroporous membranes

“…[15][16][17][18] At present, common strategies to improve cold-start-up performance depend on engineering means and external assistance to manage water during shut-down and start-up, such as using a 3D ne mesh cathode ow channel, introducing gas purging procedures, installing an additional internal/external heating device, or including an alternate hydrogen pump. 16,[18][19][20] However, improving PEM proton conductivity below 0 °C, which seems like a straightforward strategy to solve cold-startup challenges, has rarely been applied in low-temperature PEMFCs. Since PA-doped PEMs do not rely on water to transport protons, it is reasonable to hypothesize that PA-doped PEMFCs could start-up and operate below 0 °C, if a solution to the intractable problem of how to prevent PA leaching under low temperature conditions is found.…”

Investigation of the Ice Melting Process in a Simplified Gas Diffusion Layer of Fuel Cell by the Lattice Boltzmann Method

“…Both proton exchange membrane electric heating technology and electrothermal membrane heating method can achieve rapid cold start. Jiang et al 30 predicted the end time of ice melting between different methods by constructing a stack model, and compared the ice melting effect of electrothermal membrane structures with different pore sizes. In addition to artificial heating, the heat sources during fuel cell operation include chemical reaction entropy heat, electrochemical reaction irreversible heat, Joule heat, condensation heat, and reaction gas sensible heat.…”