Thermal Management Study of PEMFC for Residential Power Generation

가정용 연료전지 시스템의 열관리 해석

A PEMFC(proton exchange membrane fuel cell) is a good candidate for residential power generation to be cope with the shortage of fossil fuel and green house gas emission. The attractive benefit of the PEMFC is to produce electric power as well as hot water for home usage. Typically, thermal management of vehicular PEMFC is to reject the heat from the PEMFC to the ambient air. Different from that, the thermal management of PEMFC for RPG is to utilize the heat of PEMFC so that the PEMFC can be operated at its optimal efficiency. In this study, dynamic thermal management system is modeled to understand the response of the thermal management system during dynamic operation. The thermal management system of PEMFC for RPGFC is composed of two cooling circuits, one for controling the fuel cell temperature and the other for heating up the water for home usage. Dynamic responses and operating strategies of the PEMFC system are investigated during load changes.