An improved open cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell control ensuring a simultaneous regulation of temperature and air flow

This paper presents an improved control strategy of an open cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell, which ensures an efficient operation and a long lifetime of the stack. The key idea is to control simultaneously and with only one actuator, the air supplying and the stack temperature, in order to avoid, in the one hand oxygen starvation or the drop of system efficiency, and in the other hand to reduce the layers lifespan. For analyzing the proposed control a fuel cell multi-physic model is developed. This model is implemented in Matlab/Simscape and experimentally validated in a steady-state mode. Through this proposed model, which combine electrical and thermal model of proton exchange membrane, it is possible to follow the temperature change within fuel cell. The control performance is discussed and evaluated by simulations.