Experimental study on water management improvement of proton exchange membrane fuel cells with dead-ended anode by periodically supplying fuel from anode outlet

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells operating in dead-ended anode mode are vulnerable to water management problems. The uneven water distribution within the cells may induce local water flooding, which in turn leads to a significant decrease in output performance. Based on the dead-ended anode system, an improved mode, called two-way hydrogen supply mode, is applied to improve the water management of fuel cells. In this mode, some components, including several additional lines and a solenoid valve, are added between the hydrogen inlet and outlet lines so that hydrogen can be fed periodically to the stack from the anode outlet in addition to the anode inlet. A 10-cell open cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack is tested both in the dead-ended anode mode and two-way hydrogen supply mode, and related parameters are introduced to verify the effectiveness of the mode. The experimental results show that the improved mode can effectively improve the water distribution in the stack thus reducing the local water clogging and voltage decay rate. Moreover, the main factors affecting the two-way hydrogen supply mode are also investigated to explore their effects on the operating characteristics of fuel cells.