IMPACT OF ALTITUDE ON PERFORMANCE OF PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL STACKS

Zhang Tong; Xia Yuzhen; Zhang Li; Hu Guilin

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0123

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (6) : 586-593. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0123

IMPACT OF ALTITUDE ON PERFORMANCE OF PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL STACKS

Zhang Tong, Xia Yuzhen, Zhang Li, Hu Guilin

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Abstract

A full-scale simulation model of a small air-cooled PEMFC stack is established in ANSYS/Fluent software, and the solution is obtained using computational fluid dynamics （CFD） methods. The effects of different altitudes and cathode stoichiometric ratios on the output performance, temperature, and oxygen concentration of the fuel cell stack are investigated. The results indicate that when the altitude increases to 3200 m, the peak power density of the fuel cell stack decreases by 21.6%. Increasing the cathode stoichiometric ratio can compensate for the decrease in oxygen concentration caused by higher altitudes, improve the output performance of the fuel cell stack and reduce the internal temperature differences within the stack.

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air-cooled PEMFC stack / altitude / output performance / cathode stoichiometric ratio / numerical simulation / temperature uniformity

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Zhang Tong, Xia Yuzhen, Zhang Li, Hu Guilin. IMPACT OF ALTITUDE ON PERFORMANCE OF PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL STACKS[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(6): 586-593 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0123

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