The Impact of Humidification Temperature on a 1 kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack

The importance of water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cells is discussed in this paper. First part of research is dedicated to the characterization of a water-cooled 1kW PEMFC fuel cell stack at different operating conditions with calculation of net electric and thermal efficiencies. In the second part, the influence of inlet air humidification temperature at various loads and operational conditions was experimentally found. It was observed that humidification temperature in the air saturator has a strong impact on cell performance and this impact is growing with current density. Increase in humidification temperature by 8°C at 200mA/cm2 raised cell voltage only by 0.01V, while at 500mA/cm2 the same change led to 0.04V growth. Additionally, the effect of change of air stoichiometry on this relationship is studied. Increased air stoichiometry led to a maximum growth of the slope angle by 68% at 500mA/cm2 .