Identifying Optimal Parameters of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Using Water Cycle Algorithm

Recently, Fuel Cells (FCs) are considered a promising alternative to the conventional energy sources. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is the popular used type among different FC stacks. The mathematical model for PEMFC is an important issue for understanding the operation of FC and simulating its electrical and electrochemical characteristics. In this paper, the application of Water Cycle Algorithm (WCA) is developed to solve the optimization problem of estimating the unknown parameters of PEMFC model. The effectiveness of WCA is validated using two different commercial FC stacks. In addition, statistical analysis based on different metrics has been conducted to validate the goodness and stability of developed algorithm in solving the optimization problem. The results obtained from the WCA are compared with those obtained by other optimization techniques tackled with the same FC stacks. Moreover, the accuracy of optimized parameters is proved by the dynamic performance of PEMFC stacks under different operating scenarios of cell temperature and reactants’ pressures. The obtained results show the effectiveness of developed algorithm as a good competitor to other recent optimization techniques in extracting the unknown parameters of PEMFC stacks.