Experimental Dynamic Performance of a 30kW 90Cell PEFC Stack under Transportation Load Cycle Constraints
DE-BERNARDINIS ; HAREL ; CANDUSSO ; COQUERY ; GIRARDOT ; HISSEL ; FRANCOIS ; BESSE
Type de document
COMMUNICATION AVEC ACTES INTERNATIONAL (ACTI)
Langue
anglais
Auteur
DE-BERNARDINIS ; HAREL ; CANDUSSO ; COQUERY ; GIRARDOT ; HISSEL ; FRANCOIS ; BESSE
Résumé / Abstract
The paper presents a synthesis with analysis of different experiments performed on a 30kW PEFC (Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell) stack in order to evaluate its dynamic performance. The PEFC stack is a pilot prototype manufactured by the French company HELION and is composed of 90 cells, 800cm2 MEA area (Membrane Electrode Assembly) fed by dry hydrogen and compressed air. The tests were performed in the framework of the French SPACT-80 research project which concerns the study, the realization and the testing of an 80kW PEFC generator for transportation (application on hybrid railway platform and road engine). The PEFC stack under test can be considered as the "first stage" and first power level of the full scale power generator. The results that will be presented in the paper constitute high power tests representing a significant level of power for transportation. After a static characterization of the PEFC using polarization curves for given stoichiometries and relative pressures, the fuel cell stack has been evaluated on specific mission profiles taking into account use requirements and power constraints of a railway vehicle type tram. The first duty cycle named "short cycle" represents full power delivered by the stack. It is characterized by a power increase corresponding to an electrical peak demand correlated with the acceleration of the vehicle. The second cycle named "long cycle" is representative of a hybridization mode with regular and cyclic recharging of buffer energy storage elements. In that case, the fuel cell stack delivers a sequenced constant power. For the experiments on duty cycles an electronic load is controlled in galvanostatic mode which imposes the current reference to the fuel cell. Test results and analysis of the dynamic behavior of the fuel cell concern the experiments over the "short cycle" for nominal operating conditions, cold start effects, impact of the anodic stoichiometry factor in order to minimize the fuel consumption and optimize the performances. Finally, experiments performed on the "long cycle" in nominal working conditions will be presented. The 30kW test bench functionalities with dedicated air humidification system will be detailed. An estimation of the hydrogen consumption and calculation of the electrical energy delivered by the fuel cell over the cycles will be done.
