Thermal management of liquid-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell: A review

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stacks require effective thermal management measures that can adjust the temperature within PEMFCs according to the practical demand. For high-power PEMFC stacks, the liquid cooling approach is usually preferred. The operation of the PEMFC can be roughly divided into two stages, namely the on-load stage and the start-up stage. In both stages, thermal management is important since the internal temperature of PEMFCs greatly affects their operating state and lifespan. The effectiveness of thermal management usually depends on the structure of the thermal management system and the temperature control strategy. In this review, an overview of the thermal management system architectures for liquid-cooled PEMFCs and various temperature control strategies (during on-load and cold-start stages) are provided and debated. The challenges of the current thermal management strategies are analyzed in detail. Finally, several promising research directions are envisioned. This paper contributes to better guiding and advancing thermal management of the PEMFC.