Air supply system model with exhaust gas recirculation for improving the life of fuel cell

This paper presents an air supply system model with the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) function. High potential is one of the key factors for degradation of proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The harmful high voltage always appears when the fuel cell works at small load. The output voltage is greatly affected by the oxygen stoichiometric at the cathode. The high voltage can be lowered down by controlling the oxygen stoichiometric in a suitable range. Based on this concept, an air supply system model with EGR is proposed and modeled. A feasible control strategy for lowering the output voltage is also deployed. Simulation results of the model show that, the oxygen ration in the inlet air can be greatly reduced, as well as the output voltage.