Open Access

ARTICLE

Numerical Simulation of Air-Assisted Heating for Cold-Start in Cathode-Open Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Wei Shi^1,2, Shusheng Xiong^1,2,3,*, Wei Li^2,3, Kai Meng⁴, Qingsheng Liu⁴

1 College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China
2 Provincial Key Laboratory of New Energy Vehicles Thermal Management, Longquan, 323700, China
3 Longquan Industrial Innovation Research Institute, Longquan, 323700, China
4 Jiashan Power Supply Company, State Grid Zhejiang Electric Power Co., Ltd., No. 858 South Station Road, Jiaxing, 314100, China

* Corresponding Author: Shusheng Xiong. Email:

Energy Engineering 2025, 122(9), 3507-3523. https://doi.org/10.32604/ee.2025.065579

Received 17 March 2025; Accepted 11 June 2025; Issue published 26 August 2025

Abstract

In the realm of all-electric aircraft research, the integration of cathode-open proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) with lithium batteries as a hybrid power source for small to medium-sized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has garnered significant attention. The PEMFC, serving as the primary energy supply, markedly extends the UAV’s operational endurance. However, due to payload limitations and spatial constraints in the airframe layout of UAVs, the stack requires customized adaptation. Moreover, the implementation of auxiliary systems to facilitate cold starts of the PEMFC under low-temperature conditions is not feasible. Relying solely on thermal insulation measures also proves inadequate to address the challenges posed by complex low-temperature startup scenarios. To overcome this, our study leverages the UAV’s lithium battery to heat the cathode inlet airflow, aiding the cathode-open PEMFC cold start process. To validate the feasibility of the proposed air-assisted heating strategy during the conceptual design phase, this study develops a transient, non-isothermal 3D cathode-open PEMFC unit model incorporating cathode air-assisted heating and gas-ice phase change. The model’s accuracy was verified against experimental cold-start data from a stack composed of identical single cells. This computational framework enables quantitative analysis of temperature fields and ice fraction distributions across domains under varying air-assisted heating powers during cold starts. Building upon this model, the study further investigates the improvement in cold start performance by heating the cathode intake air with varying power levels. The results demonstrate that the fuel cell achieves self-startup at temperatures as low as −13°C under a constant current density of 100 mA/cm² without air-assisted heating. At an ambient temperature of −20°C, a successful start-up can be achieved with a heating power of 0.45 W/cm². The temperature variation overtime during the cold start process can be represented by a sum of two exponential functions. The air-assisted heating scheme proposed in this study has significantly improved the cold start performance of fuel cells in low-temperature environments. Additionally, it provides critical reference data and validation support for component selection and feasibility assessment of hybrid power systems.

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