PEM fuel cells for transport applications: State of the art and challenges

You are here: Homepage > Search

PEM fuel cells for transport applications: State of the art and challenges

Bruijn, Frank A. de

The PEMFC (polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell) has advanced to a state that it can successfully be applied in transport applications with specifications that meet customer expectations. For it's first commercial introduction, cost reduction and improvement of the durability are crucial. For cost reduction, decreasing the platinum content at the cathode should have the highest priority, and some promising developments are underway. With respect to durability, start/stop cycles and open-circuit conditions lead to irreversible loss in performance. As long as new, more robust materials are not available, conditions should be kept in an operating window preventing the conditions leading to such performance loss. For further systems simplification, increasing the operating temperature and decreasing the inlet relative humidity are key factors. The initial ambition, being steady operation at high temperature while keeping cold-start capabilities has not been proved by new membranes developed so far. The first goal should be to extend the operation of existing membranes to operation above 100 deg C, which could be for only a limited fraction of its operational time. Operation at reduced humidity at all operating temperatures could lead to more robust operation and simplification of the fuel cell system.