PEFC system reactant gas supply management and anode purging strategy:: an experimental approach

Naseruddin Khan; Yousif Al-sagheer; Robert Steinberger-Wilckens

doi:10.3390/en15010288

PEFC system reactant gas supply management and anode purging strategy: an experimental approach

Naseruddin Khan, Yousif Al-sagheer, Robert Steinberger-Wilckens (Contributor)

Chemical Engineering

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Abstract

In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently has a direct effect on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system efficiency. Therefore, the minimisation of parasitic loads while maintaining desired performance is crucial. Nevertheless, little has been found in the literature regarding experimental work on large stacks and BoP, with the majority of papers concentrating on modelling. A particular interest of our study was the anode side of the fuel cell. Additionally the rationale behind the use of hydrogen anode recirculation was scrutinised, and a novel anode purging strategy was developed and implemented. Through experimental modelling, the use of cathode air blower was minimised since it was found to be the biggest contributor to the parasitic loads.

Original language	English
Article number	288
Number of pages	18
Journal	Energies
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/en15010288
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), under grant number EP/L006707/1. This support is gratefully acknowledged.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

PEFC system
control systems
hydrogen purging
water management

Access to Document

10.3390/en15010288Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

KhanN2021PEFCFinal published version, 5.04 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC BY)

Cite this

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title = "PEFC system reactant gas supply management and anode purging strategy:: an experimental approach",

abstract = "In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently has a direct effect on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system efficiency. Therefore, the minimisation of parasitic loads while maintaining desired performance is crucial. Nevertheless, little has been found in the literature regarding experimental work on large stacks and BoP, with the majority of papers concentrating on modelling. A particular interest of our study was the anode side of the fuel cell. Additionally the rationale behind the use of hydrogen anode recirculation was scrutinised, and a novel anode purging strategy was developed and implemented. Through experimental modelling, the use of cathode air blower was minimised since it was found to be the biggest contributor to the parasitic loads.",

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author = "Naseruddin Khan and Yousif Al-sagheer and Robert Steinberger-Wilckens",

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AU - Al-sagheer, Yousif

A2 - Steinberger-Wilckens, Robert

N1 - Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK), under grant number EP/L006707/1. This support is gratefully acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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N2 - In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently has a direct effect on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system efficiency. Therefore, the minimisation of parasitic loads while maintaining desired performance is crucial. Nevertheless, little has been found in the literature regarding experimental work on large stacks and BoP, with the majority of papers concentrating on modelling. A particular interest of our study was the anode side of the fuel cell. Additionally the rationale behind the use of hydrogen anode recirculation was scrutinised, and a novel anode purging strategy was developed and implemented. Through experimental modelling, the use of cathode air blower was minimised since it was found to be the biggest contributor to the parasitic loads.

AB - In this report, a 5 kW PEFC system running on dry hydrogen with an appropriately sized Balance of Plant (BoP) was used to conduct experimental studies and analyses of gas supply subsystems. The improper rating and use of BoP components has been found to increase parasitic loads, which consequently has a direct effect on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) system efficiency. Therefore, the minimisation of parasitic loads while maintaining desired performance is crucial. Nevertheless, little has been found in the literature regarding experimental work on large stacks and BoP, with the majority of papers concentrating on modelling. A particular interest of our study was the anode side of the fuel cell. Additionally the rationale behind the use of hydrogen anode recirculation was scrutinised, and a novel anode purging strategy was developed and implemented. Through experimental modelling, the use of cathode air blower was minimised since it was found to be the biggest contributor to the parasitic loads.

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