Implementation and evaluation for anode purging of a fuel cell based on nitrogen concentration

When a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is operated in a dead-ended anode mode, its performance gradually decreases due to accumulation of nitrogen and liquid water. Many experimental studies show that nitrogen accumulation is mainly responsible for the performance drop. In this study, a dynamic mathematical model developed in our previous work is employed to predict the nitrogen accumulation in the anode and its corresponding cell voltage. The model is calibrated and validated using experimental data.