For the strong coupling problem that exists in the operation process of a water-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and to improve the performance and life of the PEMFC

a temperature control strategy for flow-following-current was proposed

this strategy regulates the coolant flow based on the current value thereby controls the temperature difference between the coolant inlet and outlet of a stack

the PID controller controls the inlet temperature of coolant by regulating the rotational speed of the radiator fan. Due to the different changes of current and power in the dynamic operation process of PEMFC

the system temperature changes in flow-following-current and power were needed to research respectively. Comparative experiments between the traditional control strategy and the flow following strategy were made on a test platform for the thermal management of the PEMFC. The results show that when compared with the traditional control strategy

the flow-following-current strategy could reduce the maximum overshoot of the coolant outlet temperature by 64.3% and decrease the maximum difference between the coolant inlet and outlet temperatures by 46.7%

the response time of system was reduced by 73 s at least. Besides the temperature changes were more stable in the flow-following-current compared to the flow-following-power. The flow-following-current strategy has realized a higher control precision and response speed

strong coupling between radiator fan and water pump can be effectively weakened

a short-term heating also can be avoided inside the stack when the current is greatly increased. The flow-following-current strategy can well meet the requirements on the temperature control of fuel cell systems.