Fuel Cell design for stationary electric power applications

Fuel cells (FC) are electrochemical systems capable to convert the chemical energy of a fuel (normally hydrogen) in electrical energy. The high cost per kW determines the use of this electrical source only for special purpose and, thus, forces the need to design the source nominal values strictly co-related to the application, where the source is addressed. In the paper the operation characteristics of a Polymeric Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) FC are investigated. In order to characterize the FC electrical behavior, a FC steady-state electrochemical model is defined and validated by means of laboratory tests on a Relion 1 kW PEM fuel cell. The aim of the paper is to evaluate how the electrical characteristics of the FC source are affected by the distribution of a prefixed electrode active area in configurations characterized by the different number of cells in series. Some final considerations of stack durability are also discussed.