TITLE:
A Volt-Ampere Method to Estimate the Energy Efficiency Evolutions of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells along with Load and Time
AUTHORS:
Hongfei Zhang, Pucheng Pei, Mancun Song, Dapeng Zhang
KEYWORDS:
Energy Efficiency; Fuel Cell; Degradation; Working Zone; Lifetime; Economics
JOURNAL NAME:
Energy and Power Engineering,
Vol.5 No.2A,
April
29,
2013
ABSTRACT: The energy efficiency of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells
always keeps changing with load and time. Considering cell
diversity and operation variety, it’s of necessity to find a simple method to
estimate the changes. The work is done with the recently developed ideal cell
model on behalf of various real cells, and results in a complete set of efficiency
formulae including one for the instantaneous and three for the average. The
formulae stand for a volt-ampere method which permits the average efficiency to
be estimated in the form of state function of cell output like the instantaneous
efficiency. With cell constants for cell specialty representation in this
method, the formulae can extend to cover various real cells and make it
realized to broadly overview the instantaneous and average efficiency movements
with both load and time throughout cell operating ranges. The energy efficiency
formulization and overviews may help make clear the correlative parameters with
the efficiency, help deepen acquaintance with efficiency change and assist in
cell operation optimization.