Review of System Integration and Control of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Di Wu; Chao Peng; Cong Yin; Hao Tang

doi:10.1007/s41918-020-00068-1

Electrochemical Energy Reviews ›› 2020, Vol. 3 ›› Issue (3) : 466 -505. DOI: 10.1007/s41918-020-00068-1

Review Article

Review of System Integration and Control of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Di Wu ¹
, Chao Peng ¹
, Cong Yin ¹^,²^,^c
, Hao Tang ¹^,²^,^d

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¹School of Automation Engineering, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610023, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

²Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Institute, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, 610023, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

^c yincong@uestc.edu.cn

^d tanghao@uestc.edu.cn

Di Wu

received his M.S. (2015) in Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics from Xi’an Jiaotong University and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Control Science and Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Hao Tang at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His research interests include the modeling and design of fuel cell systems as well as corresponding control strategies.

Chao Peng

received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Automation from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2007 and 2012, respectively, and is currently an associate professor at the School of Automation Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His research interests include fuel cell system dynamic characteristics modeling, stability analysis, robust optimization control, multi-energy integration coordination and operation optimization of fuel cells.

Cong Yin

received his B.S. and M.S. from Fudan University in 2007 and 2010 and his Ph.D. from Sichuan University in 2015. Currently, Cong Yin is an associate professor at the School of Automation Engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and focuses on the study of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells and Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, including cell stack design, multi-physics modeling and segmented cell measurement. In addition, Cong Yin has published 20 journal papers and filed 92 patents, 60 of which were granted.

Hao Tang

is a distinguished professor, the dean of the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Institute at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and a vice president of the fuel cell branch of the China Electrical Industry Association (2014–2018). In 1992, Prof. Tang received his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry and physics from Jilin University in China; and he has over 25 years of industrial and academic experience in the fundamental research, engineering design and product development of hydrogen and fuel cells. In addition, a series of commercial products including fuel cell key components, hydrogen power systems and testing equipment have been developed under his leadership. Furthermore, Prof. Tang has co-authored more than 50 research papers published in referenced journals and holds over 70 patents in China and abroad.

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Abstract

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) as power systems have been widely studied in various application fields because of advantages such as cleanness and high efficiency with great progress having been made in the past decades both technologically and fundamentally. Despite the many promising developments however, technical challenges remain in terms of performance and lifespans. This is because PEMFCs are complex systems composed of various components and factors such as material property, engineering design and operating conditions can interact with each other to affect lifespans and performance. To fully understand the coupling effects of different factors on the overall performance and durability of PEMFCs, this review will comprehensively present existing research based on four aspects, including fuel cell stacks, subsystems, system integration and control strategy optimizations. First, this review will outline fuel cell stacks with their multi-physics modeling and engineering design to provide an understanding of the operating mechanisms inside PEMFC reactors. Following this, the progress of research into the structure and function of each subsystem is summarized and integration schemes for different applications are briefly presented. Finally, various control strategies for individual PEMFC subsystems to optimize energy management and dynamic performance are discussed.

Graphic Abstract

The Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been widely studied in various application fields because of its advantages of cleanness and high efficiency as a power system. Great progress has been made in the past decades on both technological and fundamental research of PEMFCs. Despite many promising developments, some technical challenges in performance and lifetimes remain to be overcome. The PEMFC is rather a complex system. It is composed of various parts, and factors like material properties, engineering designs and operating conditions are often interacted with each other and therefore affect its lifetime and performance. In order to fully understand the coupling effects of different factors on the overall performance and durability, this work comprehensively reviews the existing research work from four aspects: the fuel cell stack, the subsystem, the system integration and the optimizing control strategy. Firstly, the fuel cell stack with its multi-physics modeling and engineering design is outlined aimed to understand the operating mechanism inside the reactor. Then the progress of research on the structure and functions of each subsystem is summarized. Furthermore, the integration schemes for different applications are briefly presented. Lastly, various control strategies of each subsystem are introduced in order to optimize the PEMFC’s energy management and its dynamic performance.

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Di Wu, Chao Peng, Cong Yin, Hao Tang. Review of System Integration and Control of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Electrochemical Energy Reviews, 2020, 3(3): 466-505 DOI:10.1007/s41918-020-00068-1