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Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) play a key role in hydrogen-based energy systems; however, accurate and practical modelling remains challenging due to system nonlinearities, parameter variability, and degradation effects. This paper presents a low-complexity parameter estimation methodology for a simplified PEMFC equivalent circuit model using current-switching techniques. The approach enables direct extraction of key parameters, including internal resistance and capacitance, from transient voltage responses without requiring complex optimization or large datasets. Experimental validation was conducted using 100 W and 1 kW PEMFC systems under current loading and interruption conditions. The results demonstrate good agreement between measured and simulated voltage responses, with a maximum error below 10% and typical error levels in the range of ~1.4–3%. Compared to conventional mechanistic and data-driven models, the proposed method significantly reduces computational complexity and measurement requirements while maintaining high predictive accuracy. Moreover, the combination of the simplified equivalent circuit model with current-switching-based parameter estimation offers an effective and practical tool for electrical engineers, enabling real-time monitoring, control-oriented modelling, and seamless integration with power electronic systems. The proposed approach is particularly suitable for applications in DC microgrids and digital twin-based monitoring of hydrogen energy systems.

By replacing conventional supplies such as fossil fuels or internal combustion engines (ICEs), this paper presents a new configuration of hybrid power sources (HPS) based on the integration of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with batteries (BATs) and supercapacitors (SCs) for hydraulic excavators (HEs). In contrast to conventional architectures, the PEMFC in this study functions as the main power supply, whereas the integrated BAT–SC is considered as an auxiliary buffer. Regarding shortcomings existing in the previous approaches, an innovative energy management strategy (EMS) was designed using a new mapping fuzzy logic control (MFLC) for appropriate power distribution. Comparisons between the proposed strategy with available approaches are conducted to satisfy several driving cycles with different load demands and verify the strategy’s effectiveness. Based on the simulation results, the efficiency of the PEMFC when using the MFLS algorithm increased up to 47% in comparison with the conventional proposed EMS and other approaches. With the proposed strategy, the HPS can be guaranteed to not only sufficiently support power to the system even when the endurance process or high peak power is required, but also extend the lifespan of the devices and achieves high efficiency.

Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) systems are proving to be a promising solution for decarbonizing various means of transport, especially heavy ones. However, their reliability, availability, performance, durability, safety and operating costs are not yet fully competitive with industrial and commercial systems (actual systems). Predictive maintenance (PrM) is proving to be one of the most promising solutions for improving these critical points. In this paper, several PrM approaches will be developed considering the constraints of actual systems. The first approach involves estimating the overall State of Health (SOH) of a PEMFC operating under a dynamic load according to an FC-DLC (Fuel Cell Dynamic Load Cycle) profile, using a Health Indicator (HI). This section will also discuss the relevance of current End-of-Life (EoL) indicators by putting the performance, safety and economic profitability of PEMFC systems into perspective. The second approach involves predicting the voltage of the PEMFC while operating under this same profile in order to estimate its overall Remaining Useful Life (RUL). Finally, the last approach proposed will make it possible to estimate the time when it will be worthwhile, or even economically necessary, to replace a degraded PEMFC with a new one.

The interest in hybrid polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) fuelled by hydrogen in shipping has seen an unprecedented growth in the last years, as it could allow zero-emission navigation. However, technical, safety, and regulatory barriers in PEMFC ship design and operation are hampering the use of such systems on a large scale. While several studies analyse these aspects, a comprehensive and up-to-date overview on hydrogen PEMFCs for shipping is missing. Starting from the survey of past/ongoing projects on FCs in shipping, this paper presents an extensive review on maritime hydrogen PEMFCs, outlining the state of the art and future trends for hydrogen storage and bunkering, powertrain, and regulations. In addition to the need for a clear regulatory framework, future studies should investigate the development of an efficient fuel supply chain and bunkering facilities ashore. As for the onboard power system, health-conscious energy management, low-temperature heat recovery, and advancements in fuel processing have emerged as hot research topics.

The consumption of hydrogen could increase by sixfold in 2050 compared to 2020 levels, reaching about 530 Mt. Against this backdrop, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been a major research area in the field of energy engineering. Several reviews have been provided in the existing corpus of literature on PEMFC, but questions related to their evolutionary nuances and research hotspots remain largely unanswered. To fill this gap, the current review uses bibliometric analysis to analyze PEMFC articles indexed in the Scopus database that were published between 2000–2021. It has been revealed that the research field is growing at an annual average growth rate of 19.35%, with publications from 2016 to 2012 alone making up 46% of the total articles available since 2000. As the two most energy-consuming economies in the world, the contributions made towards the progress of PEMFC research have largely been from China and the US. From the research trend found in this investigation, it is clear that the focus of the researchers in the field has largely been to improve the performance and efficiency of PEMFC and its components, which is evident from dominating keywords or phrases such as ‘oxygen reduction reaction’, ‘electrocatalysis’, ‘proton exchange membrane’, ‘gas diffusion layer’, ‘water management’, ‘polybenzimidazole’, ‘durability’, and ‘bipolar plate’. We anticipate that the provision of the research themes that have emerged in the PEMFC field in the last two decades from the scientific mapping technique will guide existing and prospective researchers in the field going forward.

With the increasing focus on decarbonisation of the transport sector, it is imperative to consider routes to electrify vehicles beyond those achievable using lithium-ion battery technology. These include heavy goods vehicles and aerospace applications that require propulsion systems that can provide gravimetric energy densities, which are more likely to be delivered by fuel cell systems. While the discussion of light-duty vehicles is abundant in the literature, heavy goods vehicles are under-represented. This paper presents an overview of the electrochemical degradation of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell integrated into a simulated Class 8 heavy goods range-extender fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle operating in urban driving conditions. Electrochemical degradation data such as polarisation curves, cyclic voltammetry values, linear sweep voltammetry values, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy values were collected and analysed to understand the expected degradation modes in this application. In this application, the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack power was designed to remain constant to fulfil the mission requirements, with dynamic and peak power demands managed by lithium-ion batteries, which were incorporated into the hybridised powertrain. A single fuel cell or battery cell can either be operated at maximum or nominal power demand, allowing four operational scenarios: maximum fuel cell maximum battery, maximum fuel cell nominal battery, nominal fuel cell maximum battery, and nominal fuel cell nominal battery. Operating scenarios with maximum fuel cell operating power experienced more severe degradation after endurance testing than nominal operating power. A comparison of electrochemical degradation between these operating scenarios was analysed and discussed. By exploring the degradation effects in proton exchange membrane fuel cells, this paper offers insights that will be useful in improving the long-term performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells in heavy-duty vehicle applications and the design of hybridised powertrains.

Precise models predicting fuel cell performance under different operating conditions require accurate parameter identification in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Most traditional parameter estimation methodologies depend on optimization algorithms which are limited in their efficiency, convergence speed, and robustness. Typically, existing algorithms fail to achieve a balance between precision and computational efficiency, leading to suboptimal modeling of the complex, nonlinear behavior of PEMFCs. In this paper, we present the two-stage differential evolution (TDE) algorithm, which fills these gaps by using a new mutation strategy that improves solution diversity and speeds up convergence. Seven critical unknown parameters ( and ) in PEMFC models are identified by using the proposed TDE algorithm. The optimization process is to minimize the sum of squared errors (SSE) between the experimentally measured and predicted cell voltages. TDE resulted in a 41% reduction in SSE (minimum SSE of 0.0255 compared to 0.0432), a 92% improvement in maximum SSE, and over 99.97% reduction in standard deviation compared to the HARD-DE algorithm. Furthermore, TDE was shown to be 98% more efficient than HARD-DE, with a runtime of 0.23 s, compared to HARD-DE’s runtime of 11.95 s. Extensive testing of these advancements was performed on six commercially available PEMFC stacks over twelve case studies, and I/V and P/V characteristics were confirmed to be consistent with experimental data. The results show that TDE has better accuracy, robustness and computational efficiency than the other methods, and therefore TDE can be used as a real time PEMFC parameter estimation tool.

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) models require parameter tuning for their design and performance improvement. In this study, Depth Information-Based Differential Evolution (Di-DE) algorithm, a novel and efficient metaheuristic approach, is applied to the complex, nonlinear optimization problem of PEMFC parameter estimation. The Di-DE algorithm was tested on twelve PEMFCs (BCS 500 W PEMFC, Nedstack 600 W PS6 PEMFC, SR-12 500 W PEMFC, H-12 PEMFC, STD 250 W PEMFC, HORIZON 500 W PEMFC and four 250W PEMFC and two H-12 12W PEMFC) and showed excellent accuracy. The Di-DE algorithm is was compared with other advanced evolutionary algorithms like iwPSO, CLPSO, DNLPSO, SLPSO, SaDE, SHADE, JADE, QUATRE, LSA, QUATRE-EMS and C-QUATRE, which obtained a minimum objective function value of 0.0255 and an average runtime improvement of 98.8%. The optimized parameters of the proposed method yielded the Sum of Squared Errors (SSE) as low as 0.00002 in some cases, which indicates better precision and stability. Moreover, the voltage–current (V–I) and power–voltage (P–V) characteristics predicted by Di-DE were within 1% error relative to the experimental data for all tested PEMFCs. The results of this work highlight the potential of the Di-DE algorithm to enable more sophisticated modelling and optimization of PEMFCs, which in turn will help to broaden the use of PEMFCs in clean energy applications.

The SWEL‐V electrolyzer employs a nonmetallic, permeable, and porous rock electrode that produces green hydrogen directly from seawater with no corrosion (M. Oraby and A. Shawqi, International Journal of Energy Research [2024] 2024:5576626; M. Oraby, United States Patent, Publication No. 2024/04100062 A1). This paper investigates the performance of a PEM fuel cell operating with hydrogen produced by the SWEL‐V electrolyzer with varying hydrogen flowrates. The fuel cell exhibited two distinct voltage plateaus where the locations and durations of these plateaus were strongly influenced by the hydrogen flowrates. An optimization function is developed to maximize and speed up the buildup of the fuel cell voltage through identifying the optimal hydrogen flowrate from the SWEL‐V electrolyzer. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing an integrated system combining seawater electrolysis and fuel cell technology.

A 3.5 tonne forklift containing proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and lithium-ion batteries was manufactured and tested in a real factory. The work efficiency and economic applicability of the PEMFC forklift were compared with that of a lithium-ion battery-powered forklift. The results showed that the back-pressure of air was closely related to the power density of the stack, whose stability could be improved by a reasonable control strategy and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) with high consistency. The PEMFC powered forklift displayed 40.6% higher work efficiency than the lithium-ion battery-powered forklift. Its lower use-cost compared to internal engine-powered forklifts, is beneficial to the commercialization of this product.