Optimization of PEM Fuel Cell Operating Conditions to Target Improved Performance

This paper presents a study to evaluate how a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance depends on the selected operating conditions and combination of these conditions. First, and by using the design of experiments (DoE) methodology the optimal combination of temperature, operating pressure and cathode relative humidity is studied to obtain as response the power output. A central composite design with 20 experimental runs (6 central points were used to assess the experimental error) was adopted to inspect which factors have significant effects and how they interact to each other. Second, the propagation of error (PoE) methodology is combined with DoE to determine the operating conditions where the response could be less affected by the variation transmitted from the selected operating conditions. A multi-optimization procedure is carried out considering both power and PoE to minimize the variations in the power.