Low Pressure Test Facility for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells and First

Abstract

The electrical power consumption will increase significantly in the next generations of aircraft. The use of fuel cells in aircraft allows a more environmentally friendly generation of electrical energy with a higher efficiency than the present electrical power generators in aircraft. Fuel cells in aircraft will be operated under special conditions and in particular the low pressures conditions are of interest. For this purpose at the DLR test facilities for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFC) have been builtup and first experiments under low pressure conditions were performed. For a better understanding of the electrochemical behaviour, a single cell was operated at various pressures and the electrochemical performance was investigated in combination with locally resolved current density distribution measurements. Under low-pressure conditions the water balance in the fuel cell is the crucial factor to explain fuel cell performance.