Development of a 200 W Portable PEM Fuel Cell System

A 200 W portable polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is developed. The PEMFC system consists of an air-cooled fuel cell stack module, a fuel supply subsystem, a power management subsystem, and a control electronics subsystem. The control logic is designed for the stable system operation. The system-level performance evaluation discloses that the present PEMFC system provides a rated power output of 200.5 W at 13.4 V with the maximum balance-of-plant (BOP) efficiency of 72%, and maximum system efficiency based on lower heating value (LHV) is 37% at 120.7 W system power output.