Combined startup strategy of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Abstract

High-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) are one of the key focuses in hydrogen energy research. Achieving rapid operational temperature is a critical challenge. This study combines experimental and numerical methods to investigate combined start-up strategies for HT-PEMFCs. Initially, a single-cell HT-PEMFC was constructed to obtain polarization curves. Subsequently, a three-dimensional multi-physics numerical model was developed to determine start-up times and maximum temperature differences, proposing four start-up strategies: increasing inlet gas temperature, enhancing heating plate power, combined heating without and with incorporating heat recovery. Results indicate that increasing inlet gas temperature and using a heating plate each have limitations in start-up time and membrane temperature uniformity. The optimal strategy, combining 150 °C inlet gas and a 1200 W/m² heating plate for startup, minimizes energy consumption. Additionally, incorporating heat recovery, both energy consumption and startup time can be reduced compared to scenarios without heat recovery, regardless of whether the priority is given to energy consumption or startup time.