Author(s)

Su Zhou ¹, Wenhao Guo ¹, Keda Li ¹, Jianhua Gao ², Fenglai Pei ³

Affiliation(s)

¹ College of Automotive Studies, Tongji University, Shanghai, 201804, China
² Research Institute of Highway, Ministry of Transport, Beijing, 100088, China
³ Shanghai Motor Vehicle Inspection Certification & Tech Innovation Center Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 201805, China

Corresponding Author

Fenglai Pei

ABSTRACT

With the increasing demand for energy, proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is gradually being developed for high-power applications. The power output of a single fuel cell is limited, so multi-stack fuel cell systems (MFCS) are used to meet high-power demands. The performance of fuel cells is influenced by membrane water content, but since it cannot be directly measured by sensors, indirect methods are required for estimation. Although previous studies have used Luenberger observers to estimate the membrane water content of single-stack fuel cells, the air subsystem of multi-stack systems is more complex, with stronger variable coupling and nonlinearity, making single-stack methods difficult to apply directly. To address this, the study focuses on MFCS and derives membrane water content dynamics via mass conservation. A piecewise system identification approach yields state and input-output matrices near steady states. Observability is verified, and a Luenberger observer is designed for estimating membrane water content under varying power levels. Experiments show stable and accurate estimation, supporting MFCS health management and control.

KEYWORDS

Fuel Cell; Membrane Water Content; Luenberger Observer; State Observer

CITE THIS PAPER

Su Zhou, Wenhao Guo, Keda Li, Jianhua Gao, Fenglai Pei, Estimation Method for Membrane Water Content in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Frontiers in Power and Energy Systems (2025) Vol. 4: 31-42. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/fpes.2025.040105.

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