The Effect of Humidification Strategies on Efficiency and Durability of Hydrogen Fuel Cells in Automotive Application

In this paper the effect of different humidification strategies on performance of fuel cell systems (FCS) based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells was analyzed taking into account the specific requirements of an automotive application. The experiments were conducted on PEM fuel cell systems of different power, ranging from 2.4 to 14 kW. The results showed that the optimal humidification strategy was function of stack operation mode and energy management inside the overall system, and evidenced the benefits and limitations of the self-humidification strategy for an automotive application