Design and analysis of experiments for a PEM fuel cell mathematical modelling

Abstract

Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells are power sources that convert energy of gaseous hydrogen into electric energy. In comparison with usual electrical batteries, PEM Fuel Cells are best suited to applications adaptable to customer demands that involve high power density, stability and prolonged life cycle. From the mathematical point of view, PEM Fuel Cells are a multivariable nonlinear system. Experimental investigation of such as a system considering as many input factors without a proper statistical method could result in hundreds of time-consuming experiments that cannot guarantee an adequate solution. The Design of Experiment provides a very efficient methodology to obtain a mathematical model for the PEM Fuel Cells with only a few experiments. In this paper, the development of a PEM Fuel Cells mathematical model based on the Design of Experiment methodology is described.