DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17905711
title: Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Normal and Fault Test Data

description: Tests on the normal operation and faults of the fuel cell were conducted on a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell stack consisting of 5 single cells. Each single cell has an active area of 270 cm², a rated current density of 1.5 A/cm², and a maximum current density of 1.7 A/cm², with a sensor sampling rate of 1 Hz.

1. Normal Operation Tests

The normal operation tests include polarization test, dynamic condition test, and orthogonal test. Steady-state and dynamic tests were performed across the full power range of the fuel cell to obtain operational data under normal working conditions, and orthogonal tests were conducted to analyze the influence degree of different factors on the fuel cell output.

1.1 Polarization Test

Start from a current density of 0.1 A/cm², operate for 90 seconds, record the current output voltage, then load incrementally at intervals of 0.1 A/cm², and repeat the above process until the rated power (current density of 1.5 A/cm²) is reached.

1.2 Dynamic Condition Test

The test was carried out in accordance with the durability cycle conditions of the fuel cell stack specified in the national standard GB/Z 44116-2024 "Test Methods for Durability of Fuel Cell Engines and Key Components". Three groups of tests were conducted under the conditions of stack temperatures of 70°C, 75°C, and 65°C respectively, maintaining standard oxygen excess ratio, standard hydrogen excess ratio, 65% hydrogen humidity, and 65% oxygen humidity.

1.3 Orthogonal Test

Based on 5 factors including stack temperature, oxygen excess ratio, hydrogen excess ratio, cathode humidity, and anode humidity, each factor was set with three levels to construct an L15 (3⁵) orthogonal table, and 15 groups of tests were performed. The fuel cell status was investigated under the combined conditions of temperature (70/75/80°C), oxygen excess ratio (standard state/excess state/deficient state), hydrogen excess ratio (standard state/excess state/deficient state), hydrogen humidity (50%/65%/80% RH), and oxygen humidity (50%/65%/80% RH).

2. Fault Tests

Fault tests were conducted under three typical current conditions: low, medium, and high (0.4 A/cm², 1.0 A/cm², 1.5 A/cm²). The tested fault types include four single faults (hydrogen starvation, oxygen starvation, flooding, membrane drying) and three concurrent faults (hydrogen starvation + oxygen starvation, membrane drying + hydrogen starvation, flooding + oxygen starvation). The operating conditions corresponding to each fault were modified to cover the entire life cycle of the fault from early to late stages and from mild to severe degrees.

2.1 Single Fault Tests (4 fault types, 11 hours)

Each fault was tested under three typical current conditions (low, medium, high: 0.4, 1.0, 1.5 A/cm²), and multiple sets of relevant parameters were adjusted to induce faults of different degrees. For flooding and membrane drying faults, EIS (Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy) was tested under normal state, fault state, and post-fault recovery state respectively; for membrane drying faults, the real-time impedance at the 1 KHz frequency point was additionally monitored.

2.2 Concurrent Fault Tests (3 fault combinations, 3 hours)

Three most likely concurrent fault combinations were tested: hydrogen starvation + oxygen starvation, membrane drying + hydrogen starvation, and flooding + oxygen starvation. Faults were induced based on the fault boundary conditions obtained from the single fault tests, and relevant parameter values were set correspondingly to induce concurrent faults of different degrees.