Steady-state modelling of a HT-PEMFC under various operating conditions

In this work, a commercially available Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) from Advent Technology Inc., developed for a use in High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (HT-PEMFC), was tested under various operating conditions (OCs) according to a design of experiments (DOE) with three factors varying on three levels: hydrogen gas over-stoichiometry (1.05, 1.2, 1.35), air gas over-stoichiometry (1.5, 2, 2.5) and temperature (140°C, 160°C, 180°C). A polarization curve (V-I curve) was performed for each set of operating conditions (27 curves in total) by characterizing 22 current levels. A semi-empirical and macroscopic (1D) model of the cell voltage was developed in steady state in order to model these experimental data. The proposed parameterization approach for this model (called here “multi-VI” approach) is based on the sensitivity to the OCs specific to each physicochemical phenomenon involved. With this method, only one set of parameters is used in order to model all the experimental curves (simultaneous optimization with 27 curves). The obtained results are very good: an average error less than 0.8 % and a maximum error around 2.6% between modelled and measured voltages. The obtained parameters appear consistent regardless the OCs. The proposed “multi-VI” approach with only one set of parameters seems to be an interesting way in order to converge towards a uniqueness of consistent parameters.