Analysis of the Ripple Current in a 5 kW Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Stack

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems are increasingly being used in applications requiring an inverter to convert the direct current (DC) output of the stack to an alternating current (AC). These inverters, and other time-varying inputs to the stack such as the anode feed pressure, cause deviations from the average stack current, or ripple currents, which are undesirable for reasons of performance and durability. A dynamic fuel cell model has been developed and validated against experimental data for a 5 kW fuel cell stack, examining in detail the ripple current behaviour. It was shown that the ripple currents exceed the 2% maximum recommended value, and may lead to long-term degradation of the fuel cell stack.