Numerical Study of a Fuel Cell Air Management System with a Centrifugal Compressor and Surge Control

The performance of a fuel cell air management system with a centrifugal compressor and a surge control device is studied. A fuel cell system model is built to simulate the performance of the fuel cell system with the air management system. The simulated performance of the fuel cell system is compared to the performance of the fuel cell system with a regenerative blower. Results show that the output range limitation of the fuel cell system using the centrifugal compressor is removed, and the net efficiency and air humidification effect is much better than the system using the regenerative blower.