Fuel Cell Test Benches

In order to evaluate the fuel cell performance at different conditions of flow, pressure, humidity and temperature fuel cell test benches are used. Several fuel cell test benches for single cell testing, short stack testing and large stack testing have been installed. Some of this are automated with data logging facility. A fuel cell test bench consists of gas flow controllers for each gas, humidification bottles for humidifying the gases, temperature controllers for controlling the temperate of the humidification bottles as well as to heat the single cells, back pressure regulators to facilitate operating the cells at a particular pressure of the reactant gases and an electronic load box which can operate at high current (0-150 amps DC) and at low voltage (~0.1V DC). The fuel cell test benches are used to evaluate the single cell performance (current Vs Voltage at different operating conditions). These data are used to optimize/improve the electrode composition & electrode fabrication processes, to find the catalyst efficacy, to determine the membrane performance (when different membranes are used), in scaling-up the electrode area etc. The system has safety features with hydrogen sensors for hydrogen leak, low voltage, high pressure, low flow etc.