Development of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System for Portable Refrigerator

Abstract

A portable medical refrigerator powered by proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system and cooled by thermoelectric cooler (TEC) cooling module was developed. The TEC cooling module consists of four TECs, each heat sink for cold and hot side, and air cooling fans for both sides. The power consumption and cooling capacity of TEC cooling module are 63 W and 11.5 W, respectively. The PEMFC system consists of an air-cooled stack combined the oxidant and coolant flow, a hydrogen supply subsystem with metal hydride canister, and a control unit subsystem for the management of the system with DC-DC converter and battery. To analyze the performance of PEMFC system, the power consumption of balance of plant (BOP) components, power charging consumption of battery, and power output of PEMFC stack is measured by according to the external load rates. When the power output of PEMFC stack is increased from 50 W to 200 W, the BOP efficiency of PEMFC system is increased from 25% to 67%, respectively.