PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF 1 KW OPEN CATHODE PEM FUEL CELL

This study deals with the performance (efficiency and power output) analysis of a 1 kW open cathode polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack with hydrogen. The active area of the single cell was 70 cm<sup>2</sup>. The variation of open circuit voltage (OCV) of the stack with hydrogen pressure at anode was studied. The maximum OCV obtained was 46.3 V at 25 kPa of hydrogen pressure supplied at anode. Voltage-current characteristics indicate the region of various losses of the fuel cell stack. The experimental results indicate the region of ohmic losses is the highest among activation and concentration losses. The maximum current density in the fuel cell stack was 0.47 A/cm<sup>2</sup>. The stack is maintained with sufficient voltage even at high current density. This PEM fuel cell stack is most efficient in the lower current density region with the highest efficiency of 62.16%.