Comparison of State-Space and LSTM-Based Virtual Temperature modelling in PEM fuel cells.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17979/ja-cea.2026.47.13863Keywords:
PEM Fuel Cells, Virtual Temperature Sensing, State-Space Modelling, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), System Identification, Fault-Tolerant MonitoringAbstract
This study compares model-based state-space prediction and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) approaches for virtual outlet-temperature sensing in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Experimental data consisting of stack current,
inlet cooling-water temperature, and outlet cooling-water temperature were collected under dynamic operating conditions. The state-space model was developed using system identification techniques, while the LSTM model was trained using a data-driven
sequence-learning approach. Different input combinations were evaluated using root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation analysis. Results showed that both methods could track thermal behavior, although their performance depended strongly on input selection and thermal observability. The LSTM demonstrated strong capability in learning nonlinear thermal dynamics, while the state-space approach provided improved physical interpretability.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Abiodun Abiola, Antonio Javier Barragán, José Manuel Andújar, Francisca Segura

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