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Cooling Mechanisms and Contribution Analysis of an Experimental Polymer

Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell System

Conference Paper · April 2010

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Sustainable Environme
Cooling Mechanisms and ContributionENCON2007-paper
Analysis no here
of an Experimental Polymer Electrolyte
Membrane Fuel Cell System
M. Fairuz M. R., W. A. Najmi W. M. and Rahim A.
 energy, fuel cells can take the place of both batteries and
Abstract— Thermal engineering is an important aspect of a
hydrogen fuel cell system that directly affects the overall power
output of the system. Generated heat from the electrochemical
reactions of a fuel cell needs to be removed from the cells to
inhibit a drastic rise in cell temperature. Theoretically, active
cooling systems of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel
cell are required to dissipate at least 90% of the total cooling
load. Passive cooling mechanisms consist of free convection,
radiation, as well as some heat carried out by the reactants.
Experiments were performed on a water-cooled PEM fuel cell
system with the objective of identifying the actual heat
generation and cooling contributions of active and passive
cooling mechanisms during operation. Steady-state active
cooling is within the range of 54% to 67% cooling effectiveness,
where optimum cooling occurs when the cooling water inlet
temperature is less than 60oC. Passive cooling is significant only
at high surface temperatures, providing between 14% to 23%
of cooling contribution. The cooling characteristics from these
analysis provides a platform for further improvement of the
fuel cell thermal system design.
Keywords: Polymer Electrolyte Membrane, fuel cell,
cooling system.
I. INTRODUCTION
Fuel cell systems are currently being viewed seriously as a
leading solution in many alternative energy considerations.
Fuel cell turns the chemical energy within a hydrogen-based-
fuel into electricity using oxygen (air) and other catalysts
through a series of electrochemical reactions. The fuel cell
generates useful electrical energy without any polluting
emissions, where the by-product is typically just heat and
water. As a remarkably efficient, incredibly clean source of
M. Fairuz M. R. is a lecturer with the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Technology MARA, UiTM Shah Alam,
Selangor. (phone: 03-55436277; fax: 03-55435160;
fairuz1299@salam.uitm.edu.my).
W. A. Najmi W. M. is a senior lecturer with the Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Technology MARA, UiTM Shah Alam,
Selangor, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate study in the field of Fuel
Cell Thermal Engineering. (e-mail: wanjerm3@yahoo.com.my).
Rahim A. is an Associate Professor and Director of the Alternative
Energy Research Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Technology MARA, UiTM Shah Alam Selangor. (e-mail:
rahimatan@salam.uitm.edu.my).
Proceedings of EnCon2010
3rd Engineering Conference on Advancement in Mechanical
and Manufacturing for Sustainable Environment
April 14-16, 2010, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
engines to power vehicles, power national supply grids and
all sorts of other stationary and mobile applications.
There are various types of fuel cells developed over the
years. For low temperature, compact and mobile capability
operation, the hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel
cells (PEMFC), also known as polymer electrolyte
membrane, is widely applied. The main criteria of a PEMFC
is that the electrolyte is an ion conducting polymer
membrane, and when combined with the anode and cathodes
on both sides of the membrane is known as the membrane
electrode assembly (MEA).
PEMFCs operate at a lower temperature than other fuel
cell types, typically in the range of 50oC to 80oC. This gives
the advantage of faster startup time, but the heat produced
would be of low grade [1]. It can also operate over a wide
range of pressures. PEMFC stacks are also modular and
simpler to construct. The normal load for PEMFC
application is in the range of 0.1 W to 100 kW, making it
very attractive over a wide range of engineering application.
The operation of a PEMFC involves electrochemical
reactions at microscopic levels. Hydrogen flows through one
side of the membrane, and is catalytically split by an
oxidation half-cell reaction to form protons and electrons.
This reaction occurs at a layer called the Gas Diffusion
Layer (GDL) by using platinum based electrodes as the
anode. The protons are permitted to travel through the
membrane, to the cathode side.
The formation of H2O and the internal resistance of the
electrical circuit releases heat as another by-product of the
reactions in the PEMFC. The heat concentration is normally
higher at the cathode side, increasing the cell temperature
e-mail: and causing membrane dehydration if the heat is not
effectively removed [2].
Power density of a PEMFC is a function of many process
parameters, and stack temperature plays an important role in
power generation stability. Researchers have identified the
effect of stack temperature on the power density. Works by
C.Graf et.al. [3] explains that even a slight increase in stack
1
temperature would cause an increase in generated current.
However, the voltage across the stack would drop
significantly as stack temperature increases. The significant
effect of poor thermal management on a fuel cell would be
on performance penalty due to power stability and premature
failure of system components [4]. Figure 1 summarizes the
cause-and-effect of heat on a PEM fuel cell.
Formation of H2O at
the cathode GDL current flow within the cell
THERMAL ENERGY
(HEAT)
WATER MATERIAL
MEA DRY MEA
 Evaporates water content
in membrane


Membrane lifetime reduces
Rupture
 Ionic resistance increases
 electrochemical reactions
Lower power density
 Higher voltage drop for
same current generation

THERMAL
STRESS
Expansion of metal-based
components
FLUID FLOW  Stress between components
with different thermal
 Water vapor formed at expansion coefficients
cathode flow field
 Increases reactant flow

resistance
Increases pressure drop and
pumping power required
Figure 1. Generalized cause-and-effect of generated heat
energy to fuel cell operation
This paper is based on quantitative thermal analysis from
experimental works on a water-cooled PEM fuel cell system,
which is available at the Alternative Energy Research Center
(AERC), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti
Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Malaysia. Data on dynamic
electrical power and temperature profile under certain
operating conditions were obtained. The contributions of
the active and passive cooling mechanisms were analyzed as
part of an on-going research and development work of a
PEM fuel cell power supply system.
II. THERMAL ANALYSIS
Stack heat generation is a theoretical heat quantity based
on the conversion efficiency of the fuel cells. The theoretical
maximum voltage for a single cell based on the Higher
Heating Value of hydrogen is 1.482V when the products are
all in liquid state. The stack for this work has a design rating
of 45% efficiency at full load, and the theoretical heat
generation for the stack can be estimated using (1).
Qth  1.482 1   cell I .ncell
I represents the stack current in Ampere (A) and ncell is the
number of cells of the stack.
The electrical power output, Pel, in Watts,
Pel = V x I
The single cell efficiency
Electrical resistance to
REACTIONS
GAS PROPERTIES
 Affects gas humidity and
transport characteristics
 Influences the kinetics of
DISTRIBUTION
 Rate of diffusion and
reaction limited to
transport conditions
 Non-uniformity in current
generation over the GDL
and plate
 Uneven cell temperature
distribution
(1)
(2)
2
Vcell V
 cell   cell (3)
Vmax 1.482
The cooling mechanism of the fuel cell stack is
categorized as active cooling and passive cooling. Active
cooling is achieved by circulating cooling water and using
an air-cooled heat exchanger (radiator) to dissipate the heat
to the surrounding. Passive cooling effects are more
significant as the stack temperature increases.
The calculation of active cooling rate is based on the
energy property changes of the cooling water.
Cooling water energy changes,
 
 
Qcw  mcw .C p,cw. Tcw,e  Tcw,i (4)
Air energy changes,
 

Q a  ma .C p, a . Ta, e  Ta,i  (5)
The subscripts cw and a are for cooling water and air
respectively, while subscripts e is for the exit state and i for
the inlet state.
The net heat in the stack related to the temperature
difference over a certain time period,
 mstack.Cstack.Tstack
Q stack  (6)
t
Passive cooling over the exposed stack surfaces consists
of free (natural) convection by the ambient surroundings as
well as heat transfer by radiation. The free convection
cooling effect is based on
Qnc = h.Asurface (Tsurface-Tambient) (7)
The Nusselt number correlations were calculated for each
exposed surface orientation and the respective free
convection coefficient, h, and surface cooling is calculated.
Cooling by radiation heat transfer is expressed by

Qr   .  As . . Ts 4  Tambient4  (8)
σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, equals to 5.67 x 10-8,
and ε is the surface emissivity.
Thus, the passive cooling rate is the summation of free
convection and radiative cooling over the stack surfaces,
Qpassive = Σ Qnc + Qr
(9)
Figure 1 shows a graphical estimation on the estimated
cooling distributions for the experimental stack at variable
stack power. As the stack thermal power increases, active
cooling is expected to handle at least 80% of the cooling
load. However, at less than 500W thermal power, passive
and active cooling contributions should be theoretically
equal. At 1000W stack thermal power, the active-to-passive
cooling ratio should be 70:30.
 Estimated active and passive cooling distribution
Table 2: Operating conditions
at variable stack power
100%
90%
80%
PEM Fuel Cell stack
70%
60% Properties / parameters Values
50%
40%
30%
1. Material Carbon graphite
20% 2. Specific heat, C [5] 710 J/kg.K
10%
0%
3. Density [6] 2240 kg/m3
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4. Stack volume 0.010557 m3
stack thermal power (Watts) 5. Top surface area 0.05775 m2
% passive cooling % active cooling 6. Side surface areas 0.1848 m2
7. Thermal conductivity [6] 20 W/m.K
Figure 2. Analytical estimation of active and passive cooling 8. Surface emissivity [7] 0.85
contributions at various thermal power 9. Conversion efficiency 45%
Reactants
The total cooling effect is the summation of active and Properties / parameters Values
passive cooling rates.
1. Hydrogen inlet pressure 1.5 bar
2. Air inlet pressure 1 bar
Σ Qcooling = Qactive + Qpassive (10)
Cooling Water

Properties / parameters Values

III. EXPERIMENTAL
1. Operating pressure 1 atm
2. Specific heat, Cp [7] 4180 J/kg.K
A PEM fuel cell system designed for Uninterrupted Power
3. Mass flow rate 0.0126 kg/s
Supply (UPS) was used for the experimental works. The
active cooling system consists of an in-house designed Cooling Air
circulating water flowing into the stack and cooled by air in Properties / parameters Values
a radiator heat exchanger. The system configuration and
general specifications of the hardware are presented in 1. Inlet temperature ≈ 26oC
Figure 2 and Table 1 respectively. 2. Inlet pressure 1 atm
3. Specific heat, Cp [7] 1007 J/kg.K
4. Mass flow rate 0.065274 kg/s
Table 1: PEM fuel cell system specifications 5. Density [7] 1.174 kg/m3

Specification Information / Details

Power output rating 3 kW at 48V PUMP BLOWE
R AIR
STREAM
Number of cells 72
Operating temperature 50oC Twater,exit
Pair
PH
Cell size (bipolar 150 mm length, 240 mm COOLING
WATER
2

STREAM
plate) height,
5 mm thick
Cooling system Water-cooled with heat HYDROGEN
PEM FC

COOLIN TANK
G AIR H2
exchanger STREAM
Tair,exit Tair,in
RECYCLE
STREAM

RADIATOR
PURGE
The working fluids are hydrogen, reactant air, cooling Twater,in
water and cooling air. Table 2 summarizes the operating IONIZER POWER
MANAGEMENT

conditions of the experimental. The measurements were UNIT

taken at 3 minute intervals using a thermal scanner and K- RESISTIV

E
type thermocouples with data logger for local temperatures LOADER

at 18 designated points of the stack, anemometer for air

velocity and temperature, and a multi-meter for electrical Figure 2. The fuel cell system schematic
power measurement at the resistant loader.

3
 IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION C ooling contributions

90%
C ell efficiency and current density profile 80%
70%

P erc entag e of
c ontribution
40% 50 60%
50%

C ell c urrent dens ity

35% 45 40% pas s ive cooling
C ell E ffic ienc y

contribution

(m A /c m 2)
30%
active cooling
30% 40 20%
contribution
10%
cell efficiency
0%
25% 35
current 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31
dens ity
20% 30 Time (mins)
30 34.5 39 43.5 48 52.5 57 61.5 66 70.5 75
Figure 6. Active and passive cooling contributions
S tac k temperature ( o C )

Figure 3. Relation of cell efficiency and current density to Hea t ba la nc e of sta c k

3500
stack temperature
3000

Therm al P ower (W)

P ower curve to stack temperature profile 2500 Stack heat
generation
2000
450 Heat from
cooling water
1500
E lec trc ic a l power (W)

400 Total heat input

1000
350 Required stack
500 heat

300 Energy at cooling

0 water exit
7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31
250
Time (mins )
200
30.0 34.5 39.0 43.5 48.0 52.5 57.0 61.5 66.0 70.5 75.0
Figure 7. Analysis of stack heat balance

Average s tac k temperature ( o C )

Figure 4. Power output of fuel cell stack relative to stack

temperature V. CONCLUSIONS

Passive cooling contributions

90% 80 REFERENCES
80% 70
70%
Average stack

60
Contribution
percentage

temp (oC)

60%
50
50% [1] S.G. Kandlikar and Z. Lu, Thermal management issues in a PEMFC
40%
40 stack – a brief review of current status, Applied Thermal Engineering,
30%
30 vol.29, 2009.
20% 20
10% 10 [2] Maher A.R. and Haroun A.K., Modeling optimizes PEM fuel cell
performance using three-dimensional multi-phase computational fluid
0% 0
dynamics model, Energy Conversion and Management, 2007, vol 48,
4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31
pp 3102-3119.
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radiation free convection avg stack temp [3] C.Graf et.al., Modeling of the heat transfer in a portable PEFC system
within MATLAB-Simulink, Journal of Power Sources, 2006, vol 155,
Figure 5. Radiation and free convection cooling pp 52-59.
contributions
[4] Sangseok Yu and Dohoy Jung, Thermal management strategy for a
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[5] S. Begot and J.M. Kauffmann, Estimation of internal fuel cell

temperatures from surface temperature measurements, Journal of
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[6] L. Dummery, R. Glises, H. Louahlia-Gualous, J.M. Kaufmann,

Thermal management of a PEMFC stack by 3D nodal modeling,
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[7] Y. A. Cengel, Heat Transfer : A Practical Approach, Int. Edition.

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