Experimental Study of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Purge with Load

Abstract:

The purge of fuel cell during shutdown is very important for cold start. The purge of proton exchange membrane fuel cell was experimentally studied. The effect of current， flow rate， and single cell temperature on purge was studied by using the method of purge with load. The results show that the voltage of the single cell reduced effectively when purge with load. The voltage decreases continuously with an increase in the load current. With the increase of the purging time， the voltage of the single cell continues to decrease， which can effectively avoid the high potential of the single cell for a long time. In addition， increasing the purge gas flow rate and the cell temperature can increase the purge rate， both of which have obvious effects on the purge rate. Under the conditions of experiment， the anode inlet flow rate was 0.34 L/min1， the cathode inlet flow rate was 1.32 Lmin1， and the load current density was 0.04 A/cm2， which could meet the purging goal of a short purging time， less hydrogen consumption， and lower cell voltage during purging.