A Control Oriented Simulation Model of an Evaporation Cooled Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell System

Abstract Hydrogen fed fuel cell systems are a promising technology for the energy supply of future aircraft applications. Currently, kerosene fed auxiliary power units (APU) supply an aircraft with electrical energy during ground operations while main engines are turned off. As environmental friendliness is more and more playing a crucial role for future aircraft generations, replacing the APU by an eco-friendly fuel cell technology becomes very attractive. On the other hand, fuel cell systems are a highly integrated technology and minimizing its complexity is highly favored. In contrast to liquid cooled fuel cell systems the evaporation cooled fuel cell system has a very low complexity. Nevertheless, fuel cell system controls is a central part of proper fuel cell operation to gain a maximum fuel cell lifetime. In this paper a dynamic simulation model of an evaporation cooled fuel cell stack is presented and validated against experimental data. The fuel cell system model will be central for a subsequent model based controller design.

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