블로워 구성 변경에 따른 상압형 자동차용 고분자전해질형 연료전지 시스템의 효율 특성 연구

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system receives great attention as a promising power device for automotive applications. For the wide commercialization, the efficiency and performance of automotive PEMFC system should be further improved in terms of total system (stack and balance of plant [BOP]). Air supply module, which is a major part of the BOP, greatly affects the efficiency of automotive PEMFC system. In this paper, a systematic study on the low-pressure automotive PEMFC system was made in an attempt to enhance the net system efficiency. This study mainly presents an investigation of the effect of blower configuration (1-blower and 2-blower) on the net system efficiency of automotive PEMFC system. For this purpose, the effect of operating pressure and cathode stoichiometry on the system efficiency was investigated with stack temperature under the fixed net system power condition. Results indicate that 1-blower system is better in system efficiency over 2-blower system under an air stoichiometry of 2. However, 2-blower system is better in system efficiency under an air stoichiometry of 3. The simulation results show that the optimum operating strategy needs to be established for various blower system configurations considering blower performance maps.