Effects of environmental and operational factors on the electrochemical performance of a high-power PEMFC for 3-MW-class railway vehicles

Kim, Doyoon; Kim, Beomjoon; Kim, Bo-Kyong; Ryu, Joon-Hyoung; Baek, Jong Dae; Kang, Seok-Won

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J. Electrochem. Sci. Technol > Accepted Articles

Research Article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33961/jecst.2025.00493 [Accepted]
Published online September 15, 2025.

Effects of environmental and operational factors on the electrochemical performance of a high-power PEMFC for 3-MW-class railway vehicles

Doyoon Kim¹, Beomjoon Kim¹, Bo-Kyong Kim², Joon-Hyoung Ryu², Jong Dae Baek¹, Seok-Won Kang¹

¹Department of Automotive Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk 38541, Republic of Korea
²Korea Railroad Research Institute, 176 Cheoldobangmulgwan-ro, Uiwang-si, Gyeonggi-do 16105, Republic of Korea

Correspondence: Bo-Kyong Kim,
Email: bkkim@krri.re.kr
Seok-Won Kang,
Email: swkang@yu.ac.kr

Received: 5 June 2025 • Accepted: 9 September 2025

Abstract

This study was aimed at validating an existing computational model to assess the feasibility of applying polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) to 3-MW-class railway vehicles. The cell output performance under different operating factors was predicted to identify the optimal operating conditions. A PEMFC with a cell area of 225 cm² was used for numerical analysis, examining the effects of operating voltage, relative humidity (RH), operating temperature, and pressure. As the operating voltage decreased from 0.8 V to 0.45 V, the output increased by approximately 28.42 times compared with the initial value. When RH of the anode increased from 10% to 90%, the output improved by 30.66%. However, at 100% RH, the output was lower than at 90%, indicating that the membrane was fully hydrated, which can negatively affect cell performance and stability. As the operating temperature increased from 50 ℃ to 90 ℃, the power output performance decreased by approximately 93.30%, while increasing the operating pressure from 1 atm to 3 atm increased the power output by 60.62%. This study can help mitigate risks in future production and experiments by predicting performance prior to manufacturing a prototype vehicle.

Keywords: Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Degradation, Electrochemical performance, Operating conditions, Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)