Preparation and application of a kW-level air-cooled PEMFC stack with titanium bipolar plates for UAVs

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, as high-energy-density and low-emission energy devices, are considered as an important electrochemical reactor for converting chemical fuel to electricity. In this study, a kW-level air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cells stack with titanium bipolar plates was prepared and used in unmanned aerial vehicle application. The ground test showed that the stack output power achieved approximately 1.4 kW @ 40 V after three activation process. The loading test and loading-shedding test proved that the stack has a fast recovery ability to handle loading fluctuations. The single cell voltage uniformity at 0.06 MPa hydrogen inlet pressure is better than that of 0.08 MPa. After the ground test, we also conducted unmanned aerial vehicles flight tests, and the results indicated that, with the hydrogen gas supplied by 5 L 35 MPa cylinder, we achieved the endurance of 74 min with an average output power of 1318 W, and the hydrogen utilization rate was about 39.6 %. This research may provide a technical support and practical reference for the design of a kW-level fuel cell stack in unmanned aerial vehicle applications.