Performance analysis and evaluation of proton membrane exchange fuel cells

This paper presents the performance analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and evaluation of the fuel cells by using a current density extent (D) and a steady-state error rate (S) as the steady-state performance indexes based on the effects and sensitivity of the fuel cell parameters on the polarization curve. Excluding the non-linear parts of the curve, which are the activation polarization loss and the concentration polarization loss, the steady-state performance indexes, i.e. D and S, are defined and their application for both theoretical analysis and engineering practice are discussed. The presented steady-state performance indexes have been applied for analysis and evaluation of two typical fuel cells and they are found as suitable for evaluating the performance of the fuel cells.