Optimization of Kw-Scale Methanol Reforming High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells with Efficient Waste Heat Utilization

The current research gap for methanol reforming fuel cell system (MRFC) is to significantly improve the system efficiency and remarkably shorten the start-up time. In this study, 1D MRFC dynamic model was established and validated by actual experimental data. Based on simulation results, dual-objective optimization was carried out to maximize the system efficiency and output power by adopting the NSGA-II algorithm. A kW-scale MRFC with efficient waste heat utilization was developed for a 5G communication base station in the city of Beijing, China. Under the optimal operating conditions, the MRFC showed an excellent performance with an output power of 3.02 kW, a system efficiency of 47.2 %, a waste heat utilization of 70.1 % and a start-up time of 32 min. MRFC showed immense potential for backup power generation in the fields such as communication base stations.