Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726

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Electric Power Systems Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/epsr

PEM fuel cell testing by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Carmelo Brunetto a , Antonino Moschetto b,1 , Giuseppe Tina b,
a
Terna SpA, Via Arno 64, 00198 Rome, Italy
b
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Elettronica e dei Sistemi, Universit di Catania,
Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95129 Catania, Italy

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Nowadays, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are candidate as middle term power sources for
Received 10 February 2007 automotive, stationary generation and portable power applications. In order to introduce these devices
Received in revised form 22 February 2008 into the market an improvement in their performances seems necessary, as well as the development of
Accepted 15 May 2008
an effective control system able to nd their optimal operating conditions. This paper deals with elec-
Available online 14 July 2008
trochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) using an effective tool, where a cost-effective measurement
hardware has been developed creating a software to analyze the results. Both single fuel cells and stacks
Keywords:
have been tested in various operating conditions. This experimental approach allows to highlight varia-
Circuit modelling
Fuel cells
tions of model parameters and to perform a further analysis of the processes occurring in a fuel cell through
Impedance electrical circuit models. A special attention is given to the experimental results, in order to address fuel
System diagnostics cell malfunctions using the EIS approach as an effective diagnostic method.
Electrochemistry 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Stationary generation

1. Introduction for stationary plants) as well as in cost effectiveness have to be

Fuel cells are devices that convert chemical energy directly into
electrical and thermal energy. They consist of two electrodes sep-
arated by an electrolyte. With the aid of electrocatalysts, hydrogen
and oxygen are combined to produce electricity. On the anode
side hydrogen oxidation takes place while the reduction of oxygen
occurs on the cathode side. In PEMFCs the electrolyte is made up
of a thin ion-conducting polymeric membrane that let the protons
move from the anode to the cathode (see Appendix A). Electrons are
forced through the external load (Fig. 1). In order to reach power
enough to satisfy the load, various cells are stacked together, obtain-
ing the so-called fuel cell stack [2].
PEMFC suit several applications well such as automotive,
small-scale power generation and portable power applications.
Low operating temperature (70100 C), high specic power
(0.7 kW/kg), efciency (4045%) and low environmental impact
are determining features that make PEMFC attractive among other
types of fuel cells.
Signicant improvements in operating lifetime (targeted life-
time is about 5000 h for automotive application, and at least 40,000
Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 095 7382337; fax: +39 095 330793.
E-mail addresses: carmelo.brunetto@terna.it, cbrune@diees.unct.it (C. Brunetto),
amoschetto@diees.unict.it (A. Moschetto), gtina@diees.unict.it (G. Tina).
1
Tel.: +39 095 7382337; fax: +39 095 330793.
reached prior to their wide diffusion. Moreover, a basic step is to
t properly the stack with a power conditioning unit and a fuel cell
control system [3].
In order to meet these requirements, it is essential to make an
in-depth study of fuel cell inner phenomena and analyse both its
steady-state and transient behaviour. Electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy (EIS) is an experimental technique, which is useful
both in modelling fuel cell with electrical circuits and detecting
malfunctions and low performances. This method is used to per-
form impedance measurements at various frequencies for different
DC power generation devices.
The experimental EIS can be translated into general failure pat-
terns or into industrial and commercial standards, quality control
protocols, maintenance procedures, safety regulations, and recy-
cling or disposal mechanisms. Such a development could reduce
the amount of time and money required during fuel cell system
design [4].
Various studies have dealt with parameters identication and
diagnostics of PEMFC, in [5], the proposed method is based on a
particular excitation waveform, but this model is reduced to a sim-
ple one to assess fuel cell behaviour only in two different operating
points [6]. Presents a good sensitivity investigation of fuel cell stack
parameters, although it uses a model with a single constant time
[7].
In this paper a useful EIS tool has been developed. Single PEM
fuel cells and PEM stacks have been tested in various operating

0378-7796/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2008.05.012
18 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726
Fig. 1. Fuel cell reactions and electrodes.
conditions. Some experimental results are analysed in order to
highlight signicant variations of model parameters and to address
their link with the main fuel cell physical variables.
This approach is meaningful to detect the optimal fuel cell work-
ing points in order to increase and maintain its performances during
its lifetime.
2. Impedance measurement system
Among the different measurement approaches the voltage
current characteristic represents a simple and efcient method to
estimate and to compare a specic fuel cell (see Appendix A). In
particular the FC static behaviour, as previously modeled, can be
addressed with the polarization measurement (IV characteristics)
as it is presented in Fig. 2.
However the physical and chemical mechanisms that limit the
cell voltage for different current densities, cannot be completely
assessed by this method, because different phenomena overlap and
are difcult to separate [9].
The main advantage of EIS is the possibility to resolve in
frequency domain, with a FC dynamic model, the individual con-
tributions that affected the overall PEMFC performance under load
conditions. Such a separation provides useful information both for
the FC design and for the selection of the optimal operating condi-
tions.
A method to perform impedance measurements for fuel cells, as
well as for another device that is producing DC current, consists of
applying it to a low level current waveform, then measuring both
the stimulating current and the resultant ac voltage (galvanostatic
EIS). It is very important to employ a small perturbation, so that the
Fig. 2. PEM fuel cell polarization characteristics.
voltage oscillations remain less than or equal to 30 mV, consider-
ing a PEMFC operating temperature of about 80 C. It can be shown
that the differential equations governing system response become
essentially linear provided that the amplitude of the applied pertur-
bation is smaller than the so-called thermal voltage VT , considering
the operating temperature of the fuel cell under test (80 C) it is
possible to nd the correct upper bound of the linear region, as it
is reported in the following equation:
RT
VT = 30 mV at 80 C (1)
F
where T is the cell absolute temperature (K), R is the gas
constant (8.314 J K1 mol1 ) (V) and F is the Faraday constant
(F = 96,485 C/mol1 ).
Thereby, the response can be considered linear and there are
not harmonics of the excitation frequency. With regard to the EIS
measurements they are meaningful only for situations where the
overall system response is approximately linear. In particular for
a non-linear system, like the fuel cell, a great perturbation gives a
warped response, that consists in several harmonics of the excita-
tion frequency with a not negligible amplitude. The Fourier analysis
(Fig. 3) conrms that during experiments the response mainly con-
sists of the excitation frequency input while the other harmonics
are negligible [1].
The measurement system acquires voltage and current wave-
forms in time domain and transfers them, via GPIB link (General
Purpose Interface Bus), to a personal computer, where they are
stored and processed. Therefore a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algo-
rithm is applied to get voltage and current in frequency domain.
Then, simply dividing the transformed voltage by the transformed
current, complex impedance at the input frequencies is obtained.
An outline of the employed measurement system is reported in
Fig. 4.
The Electronic Load sets the DC operating point and superim-
poses the desired signal, built into the Function Generator, on the
fuel cell current. The whole experimental process is supervised by
a PC where, for a better automation of EIS experiments, a dedicated
software has been implemented using LabVIEWTM programming
language.
As input perturbation, besides the single-sine technique,
multi-sine technique have been implemented. Instead of a simple
sinusoidal waveform, Fig. 5, it is possible to add some harmonics,
 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726 19

Fig. 3. Fourier analysis of the FC voltage response for a sinusoidal excitation waveform having a frequency of 3.8 Hz.

Fig. 4. Experimental EIS measurement system.

Fig. 5. Plots of normalized voltage and current waveforms with single-sine technique.
20 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726

Fig. 6. Plots of voltage and current waveforms with multi-sine technique (ve harmonics).

Fig. 6, thus obtaining a less time-consuming measure and mini-
mizing system perturbation. These features make multi-sine more
suitable especially in diagnostic applications.
The analysis of the fuel cell impedance spectra is performed
inside a distinct module of the same measurement software
through the non-linear tting algorithm of LevenbergMarquardt.
Each spectrum can be tted into a specic electrical circuit, whose
impedance transfer function is set in the graphical user interface
(front panel). By adjusting seed values in order to reduce tting
error, the software itself provides the values of the electrical circuit
parameters that best t the experimental data to the chosen model
[10].
A comparison between single-sine and multi-sine technique is
reported in Fig. 7, where it is possible to see only a slight differ-
ence in the low frequency region. This is due to the hysteresis
phenomenon that occurs in this kind of experiments with elec-
trochemical systems where, with long time measurement, the fuel
cell electrodes change slightly their characteristics. In particular
also the excitation waveform contributes to this, especially consid-
ering the fact that the RMS value of the multi-sine perturbation
is lower than the single-sine for the same peak amplitude. There-
fore with the multi-sine waveform the system is less altered by the
measurement signal.
3. Experimental details
The EIS measurements were performed at the Institute of
Advanced Technology for Energy (ITAE-CNR), Messina, Italy.
In the impedance experiments a PEMFC, Fig. 8, which was
entirely assembled at ITAE, has been employed. It has the following
features:

Fig. 7. Plot of fuel cell impedance modulus with multi-sine technique (ve harmonics) and single-sine.
 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726
Fig. 8. Employed PEMFC (ITAE-CNR).
combined parallel/serpentine ow elds arrangement;
electrode area, 50 cm2 ;
Naon 115 membrane;
triple layer electrodes: backing in carbon cloth (300 m), diffu-
sive layer (6080 m), catalytic layer with a platinum load of
0.25 mg/cm2 ;
copper current collectors.
Moreover a pre-commercial PEM stack, with the following
main features, has been tested:
16 cells;
electrode area of 200 cm2 ;
nominal power of 1 kW.
Both single cell and stack operate with humidied hydrogen and
air as reactants. An adjustable and reliable reactants hydration is
assured using an external humidifying system, by feeding the gases
through bubblers, held at a constant temperature by an electric
heater.
The EIS tests were performed in various operating conditions
changing reactants water content (relative humidity), reactants ux
and electrical load.
The EIS measurements were taken after 5 h of it working con-
tinuously with the same operating conditions, owing to its slow
dynamics. A long relaxation time is needed especially for the fuel
cell stack to maintain the operating DC point. Thus the experimen-
tal results are more reliable and less inuenced by the typical drift
of the working point. It is very important to measure a stabilized
system in order to compare its response to different kinds of input
waveforms. Usually the time needed for the operating point stabil-
ity depends on the device under test. It can range from a minimum
of 3 to a maximum of 48 h (e.g. the employed stack needs about
34 h, while the fuel cell needs 8 h).
The frequency range in the impedance spectrum goes from
7.6 mHz to 10 kHz, and there are 10 frequencies taken for each
decade with single-sine technique. One complete measurement
takes about 16 min, using the single-sine technique, less than 5 min
with multi-sine input perturbation.
In order to assess the right test frequency (according to the
NyquistShannon sampling theorem) the following expressions
have been considered both for the single-sine technique and for
the multi-sine one:
n N
ftst = nfBin = fs with 1 n
N 2
ftst min ftst ftst max
21
Fig. 9. Randles equivalent FC impedance.
where ftst is the test frequency; fBin the bin frequency; ftst min the
minimum test frequency; ftst max the maximum test frequency; N
the number of samples; fs the sampling frequency; n is the wave-
form periods.
In order to apply the FFT algorithm the number of samples (N)
have been chosen equal to 4096 [1].
4. Fuel cell dynamic modeling
In fuel cell testing, the voltagecurrent characteristics (polariza-
tion curve) show the steady-state behaviour. With EIS approach an
electrical circuit can be used to model the FC dynamical behaviour.
The basic model representative of a FC is the Randles circuit [8],
and it is shown in Fig. 9.
Where one resistance is considered for the electrolyte behaviour
(Rs ), and a net made of a capacitance and a resistance models the
charge transfer at the electrodeelectrolyte interface (Rp Cdl acti-
vation time constant). This simple model highlights at the highest
frequencies the behaviour of the electrolyte (Rs ), since the dou-
ble layer capacitance (Cdl ) shorts the polarization resistance (Rp ),
whereas, at the lowest frequencies, the capacitor acts as an open
circuit, so the overall impedance is the combined resistance of the
two series resistors. With these excitation frequencies it is possible
to assess the interfacial phenomena because Rp  Rs . However in
this circuit there are no element that take into account the con-
centration loss. This phenomenon is strictly connected with the
lowest frequency and causes an increase of the impedance modulus
(Warburg) [11].
In comparison with Randles, an extra net formed by a capaci-
tance and a resistance is added in the presented electrical circuit,
Fig. 10 (diffusion time constant). Thus the mass transport effect
at the interface among electrode, electrolyte and gas phase (con-
centration loss) is included, especially at high currents or at low
reactants ux. In [12], also a net for the electrolyte is considered,
but only with high frequency tests it is possible to properly address
this phenomenon only for deep electrochemical studies.
Where a net formed by a capacitance (Cd ) and a resistance (Rd )
takes into account the mass transport effect (Rp Cdl diffusion time
constant).
With Randles equivalent impedance, after introducing the
expression of its modulus as reported in Appendix A (Eq. (A5)),
the tting algorithm tries to nd the best t values of coefcients
(,,). From these numbers it is possible to obtain the electrical
(2)
(3) Fig. 10. Equivalent FC impedance for experimental tting.
22 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726

Fig. 11. Plots of PEMFC impedance modulus at variable humidity of reactant gases. Dotted line (experimental data) and solid line (tting).

circuit parameters: 5. Experimental results


2 +  2 f 2 In order to highlight the fuel cell behaviour through electrical
|Z| = (4) parameters, different EIS measurements have been taken from a
1 + 2 f 2
single PEMFC as well as from a stack.

where = Rp + Rs ; = 2Cdl Rp ;  = 2Cdl Rp Rs .

In the same way the impedance modulus for the circuit with 5.1. Fuel cell
two time constants is represented by the following equation:
  2
The fuel cell EIS testing was performed in various operating con-
 
2 f f
ditions. Through the measurement software it is possible to change
|Z| = + + + + (5) only the electrical variables. For variables, such as pressure, rela-
1 + 2 f 2 1 + 2 f 2 1 + 2 f 2 1 + 2 f 2
tive humidity, operating temperature and ux stoichiometry, it is
necessary to set a specic value in the control panel of the test
where = 2Cd Rd ; = 2Cdl Rp ;  = Rs ; = Rp ;  = Rd . station. Throughout the following tests the current density is held
The experimental data has been tted using the two-time constant.
constants circuit because it encompasses also the diffusion over- With the available instrumentation, the fuel cell hydration and
potential. the reactant uxes have been varied:

Fig. 12. Experimental Rs with its tting for various humidifying temperature.
 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726 23

Fig. 13. Plots of impedance modulus at variable uxes of reactant gases in a PEMFC.

Table 1 the fuel cell water management is better [11]. The other resistances
Electrical parameters at variable hydration of reactant gases
behave in the same way, whereas double layer capacitance and dif-
T. Hum ( C) Rs (m) Rp (m) Cdl (F) Rd (m) Cd (F) fusion capacitance have a very different behaviour. However, it is
75/70 11.83 28.87 0.075 19.81 6.6867
important to notice that activation time constant ( act = Rp Cdl ) is
80/75 8.67 13.46 0.084 6.79 33.428 quite similar in the different hydration measurements, while diffu-
85/80 5.00 9.25 0.376 3.61 0.1079 sion time constant ( dif = Rd Cd ) suddenly becomes very low when
90/85 4.95 6.18 0.608 4.31 0.1186 the water content increases, as a consequence of the improved reac-
tant transport. Therefore for the last two measures, with a better
Reactants humidity: adjusting the operating temperature of the water management, also the Randles model that does not take into
humidifying bubblers from 70 C to 85 C for the air humidier account the concentration losses is suitable.
and from 75 C to 90 C for the hydrogen one (IFC = 200 mA/cm2 ). In order to empirically evaluate the behaviour of Rs for different
Reactants uxes: setting the reactants stoichiometric coefcients membrane water content, the experimental EIS data has been tted
in the mass ow controllers from 2 to 5.3 for the air, while 1.5 to into Eq. (6) where the electrolyte resistance is a quadratic function
4 for the hydrogen (IFC = 500 mA/cm2 ). of the humidifying bubbler temperature TH2 :

In Fig. 11 the impedance spectrum for a fuel cell with different RS = aTH2 + bTH2 + c (m) (6)
2
conditions of membrane hydration is reported.
Table 1 shows the electrical parameters of the model. The data where a = 0.031, b = 5.6 and c = 259, during variable hydration tests.
analysis conrms an increase of the electrolyte resistance when Experimental and tted data are reported in Fig. 12.

Fig. 14. Experimental Rs with its tting for various incoming reactants uxes.
24 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726

Fig. 15. Plots of impedance modulus with normal and low hydrogen ux for a PEMFC stack.

Fig. 16. Plots of multi-sine voltage transients with normal and low hydrogen ux for a PEMFC stack.

In Fig. 13, the impedance spectrum for a fuel cell with different
conditions of reactant uxes is reported.
Table 2 shows the electrical parameters of the model. An anal-
ysis of this data is very useful in assessing the correct values of
reactants ux in order to obtain good fuel cell performances. In
particular, the electrolyte resistance has a slight increase, while
Table 2
Electrical parameters at variable uxes of reactant gases
the other resistances decrease showing an improvement in reac-
tion kinetics and in mass transport. Considering the diffusion
time constant ( dif = Rd Cd ) when the reactants uxes increase, dif
becomes smaller (because there is) due to plenty of hydrogen
and air. It is important to underline that assessing the cor-
rect stoichiometric coefcients is a trade-off between additional
costs (more reactants ux) and better performances. EIS mea-
surements conrm that assuming SH2 = 3 and SAir = 4 (i.e. H2 ,
520 sccm; air 1750 sccm) for the fuel cell tested is a good choice in
practice [13].

(H2 air) Rs (m) Rp (m) Cdl (F) Rd (m) Cd (F) In order to empirically evaluate the behaviour of Rs for different
1.52 5.56 11.87 0.227 15.60 6.75 reactant uxes, the experimental EIS data has been tted into Eq. (7)
22.66 5.63 12.12 0.338 8.499 17.6 where the electrolyte resistance is a linear function of the hydrogen
2.53.3 5.68 12.21 0.226 8.943 14.6 stoichiometric ratio SH2 :
34 5.81 10.75 0.323 7.60 14.7
3.54.66 6.60 9.05 0.348 5.305 20.8
45.3 6.48 8.65 0.281 4.02 19.4 RS = SH2 + (m) (7)
 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726
where = 0.44 and = 4.8, during variable reactants ux tests.
Experimental and tted data are reported in Fig. 14.
5.2. B. Stack
The input multi-sine waveform has been applied to a stack,
whose experimental operating conditions were the following:
cell temperature, 6567 C;
reactant temperature: air 65 C (humidied), hydrogen ambient
temperature (dry);
reactant uxes: air 56 l/min, hydrogen dead-ended;
reactant pressure: air 0.3 bar gauge, hydrogen 0 bar gauge;
current density: 450 mA/cm2 .
The impedance spectrum for the stack is reported in Fig. 15 and
two voltage transient in time domain in Fig. 16.
A comparison between two measure at 450 mA/cm2 with nor-
mal (black) and with low (blue) hydrogen ux shows a signicant
increase in high frequency impedance that reects bad water trans-
port due to an insufcient electro-osmotic drag [14]. Moreover, the
low frequency region shows a big drop in impedance spectrum,
caused by a discontinuity in hydrogen ux.
The same instability can be seen in time domain, where a volt-
age multi-sine signal is showed both in low frequency (upper plot)
and in medium frequency (bottom plot). As far as the latter is con-
cerned, the voltage response completely follows the drop, therefore
the system can be clearly considered in an unstable operating point.
6. Conclusion
This paper deals with PEMFC testing and modelling. In particu-
lar EIS technique has been employed, since it is a very suitable and
useful method. Moreover, adopting a low-cost equipment, a soft-
ware able to carry out these experiments and analyse their data
results has been created.
Concerning the test requirements, it is possible to choose
between single and multi-sine input waveform. Thus, with a less
time consuming approach a lot of EIS tests can be performed during
fuel cell operation (on-line diagnostics). This tool can be employed
in fuel cell research and development in order to increase its pen-
etration in the generation market.
However the hardware and techniques for on-line diagnosis
(e.g. onboard a vehicle, house power generation set) must comply
with very stringent constraints (cost and size reduction, minimal
response time, structural simplication, etc.). On this regard, future
research efforts will be dedicated to optimal design and standard-
ization of this test equipment.
Owing to the tting software module an electrical circuit model
that comprises also diffusion phenomenon has been introduced to
analyze the experimental data. In the same module there is the pos-
sibility to study the effectiveness of different electrical equivalent
circuit.
With several measurements taken from single fuel cells and
stacks, a sensitivity analysis of some fuel cell parameters (elec-
trolyte resistance, activation and diffusion time constant) has been
evaluated. In particular water content and reactants ux have been
changed in order to link electrical model parameters with inter-
nal fuel cell phenomena, and to nd optimal operating conditions
(i.e. hydration, reactants ux, fuel cell temperature). In particular
the evaluation of impedance during the FC power system lifetime,
using a proper equipment for the EIS measurements, is a useful
approach to recognise if the stack is dehydrated or ooded (water
management). The rst phenomenon can be analyzed looking at
25
the increases of impedance in the high frequency region, while the
second phenomenon is related mainly to the low frequency region.
Therefore these data about the FC impedance can be used to make
control loops in order to maintain the operating point stable or
prevent the cells failure.
This technique is mainly focused on the end use and main-
tenance product environments, but these results are very useful
for the fuel cell system design. Especially it is important to have in
a simulation a simple and effective model reecting the fuel cell
behaviour, without considering other complex models with sev-
eral physical parameters. This analysis is useful for fuel cell system
integration into power system (e.g. distributed generation) where
a complete electrical circuit concerning with the fuel cell plus its
power conditioning unit is needed.
Appendix A
A.1. Chemical reactions of a PEMFC
The basic reactions of the PEMFC can be described as follows:
at the anode the molecular hydrogen gas is split into electrons and
protons:
2H2 4H+ + 4e (A1)
During this reaction energy is released. At the cathode the
molecular oxygen reacts with electrons and protons forming water:
O2 + 4e + 4H+ 2H2 O (A2)
The electrode reactions and charge ow for an acid electrolyte,
like PEMFC, are presented in Fig. 1.
The output voltage of a single fuel cell, is expressed by the fol-
lowing equation:
VFC = Erev int act ohm conc (A3)
where Erev represents the fuel cell reversible voltage. It is the
maximum achievable voltage and depends on the thermody-
namic conditions (i.e. pressure, temperature). int (internal loss), is
related to the wasted fuel that passes through the membrane (fuel
crossover) and, to a lesser extent, to the electron conduction of the
membrane. This loss is equivalent to an internal current, that is con-
stant also when the circuit is open. act (activation loss), concerns
the kinetics of the chemical reaction that occurs at the electrodes. To
achieve a self-sustaining reaction, especially at the cathode, hydro-
gen and oxygen must attach to the surface, but this process takes
time and limits current ow. ohm (ohmic loss), is due to the resis-
tance of the membrane to proton ow. This loss also includes the
electrical resistance originating from the non-ideal electrodes and
their electrical interconnections. conc (concentration or diffusion
loss), is caused by a reduction of the reactant concentration. In
practice the diffusion of ions through the electrolyte results in a
build-up of concentration gradients between the gas input and the
ow channels, thereby decreasing the rate of transport especially
at high current density.
Each individual term of (1), apart from int whose contribution
is included into act , is dened as follows [8]:
Erev = 1.229 8.45 104 (T 298.15) + 4.31 105 T ln

PH2
(A4)
1/2
4.76 PAir
I + I 
FC n
act = A ln (A5)
b
ohm = rIFC (A6)
26 C. Brunetto et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 79 (2009) 1726
conc = m exp(nIFC ) (A7)
where T is the cell absolute temperature (K), A (V) and b (mA/cm2 )
are constants depending on the conditions of the electrode,
r (m/cm2 ) the area specic resistance (ASR), m (V) and n
(cm2 /mA) are experimental parameters for the concentration loss,
IFC (mA/cm2 ) the current density drawn by load, and In (mA/cm2 )
is the internal equivalent current density that is very small in com-
parison with IFC , therefore it can be neglected using typical working
currents.
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Degree of Bachelor of Engineering, University of technology, Sydney, 2002.
Giuseppe M. Tina (M97) received his M.Sc. (1988) and the Ph.D. degree (1992) both in
Electrical Engineering from the University of Catania. He joined Agip Reneries and
ST Microelectronics (Italy) where he worked as Electrical Engineer. He is now Asso-
ciate Professor in the Dept. of Electrical, Electronics and System Engineering at the
University of Catania. His research interests include planning and operation of dis-
tribution networks, renewable generation systems, Dispersed Generation Systems,
reactive power and voltage control ancillary services market.
Carmelo Brunetto was born in Catania Italy, on July 20, 1979. He received his M.Sc.
(2003) and the Ph.D. degree (2007) from the University of Catania in Electrical
Engineering. His employment experience includes the Italian Transmission Sys-
tem Operator (Terna SpA) where he is responsible for the economic assessment
of the ancillary Italian services market. His special elds of interest include fuel cell,
renewable generation systems and their penetration in energy electricity markets
as well.
Antonino Moschetto received his M Sc. in Electrical Engineering (2000) from the
University of Catania. Until 2005 he collaborated to research activities at Institute
of Advanced Energy Technologies of the National Council of Research (CNR ITAE -
Messina, Italy). At the present he is PhD student with Electrical, Electronics and
System Engineering Department of University of Catania (UNICT-DIEES). His spe-
cial elds of interest include hydrogen systems and renewable systems testing and
development.