Water removal characteristics of proton exchange membrane fuel cells using a dry gas purging method

Water removal from proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is of great importance to improve start-up ability and mitigate cell degradation when the fuel cell operates at subfreezing temperatures. In this study, we report water removal characteristics under various shut down conditions including a dry gas-purging step. In order to estimate the dehydration level of the electrolyte membrane, the high frequency resistance of the fuel cell stack was observed. Also, a novel method for measuring the amount of residual water in the fuel cell was developed to determine the amount of water removal. The method used the phase change of liquid water and was successfully applied to examine the water removal characteristics. Based on these works, the effects of several parameters such as purging time, flow rate of purging gas, operation current, and stack temperature on the amount of residual water were investigated.