Investigating the Performance Behaviour of an Air Breathing Pem Fuel Cell Used in Fuel Cell Vehicles from In_Situ Measurements of Operational Parameters

Abstract

newline Efficient usage of energy and lossless production of power has been a newlinechallenge for the human think tank for more than a decade now. With the invention newlineof Fuel Cell, it was almost completely answered. Though it produces energy in a newlinesingle step and its efficiency is higher, there is a need for auxiliary systems for it to newlinework efficiently for longer time spans. These practical shortcomings have prevented newlineit from completely replacing traditional energy production. This technology is still in newlineresearch phase. Research is being pursued in many domains, viz. hydrogen newlinegeneration and storage, materials, system integration, flow channel design, thermal newlinemanagement, water management, operating parameters, etc. In this project, the newlinestudy was concentrated in the domain of water management. newlineWater management has been researched and debated widely in the area of newlinefuel cells mainly because the advent of water management in the performance of newlinefuel cell is vital. Water as it is in need for effective working of the cell and a method to newlinemaintain its levels to avoid the extremes of flooding and dehydration in the cell has newlinebeen the need. Such a method will increase the portability of the cell and thereby will newlineimprove the applications of the Fuel Cell widely. With enhanced portability the fuel newlinecell might as well replace the battery and many other traditional systems and newlinerevolutionize the energy production. newlineThe thesis focuses on the parametric analysis of Proton Exchange Membrane newlineFuel Cells (PEMFC). The study involves fabrication of membrane electrode newlineassembly at 40% Pt/C loading and experimenting with different parameters, viz, cell newlinetemperatures, oxygen and hydrogen flow rates and cathode and anode newlinehumidification temperatures. The results show that cell temperature has a significant newlineeffect on the performance of the PEMFC, whereas other parameters produce newlinevariation only in the activation polarization region and in the concentration polarization region. newline