Performance Degradation Study for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell in Underwater Vehicle Applications

In this paper, performance degradation for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) in underwater vehicle applications is studied. Firstly, the working principle of PEMFC is introduced. Then, the current-voltage performance test of the PEMFC under different working temperatures is executed. Based on the current-voltage performance, the current-power performance of the PEMFC can be calculated. Results show that the PEMFC's voltage output performance would degrade obviously below 0.. Accordingly, the power performance of the PEMFC would also degrade. So, a pure PEMFC power system may not satisfy the power or voltage requirement of the underwater vehicle's power bus under different low temperatures. Auxiliary power source such as batteries should be integrated with the PEMFC to supply power for underwater vehicles. In addition, the current-power performance and the power degradation should be used as a reference for designing the control strategy of the PEMFC-battery hybrid power system in underwater vehicle applications.