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Project

STAYERS – Stationary PEM fuel cells with lifetimes beyond five years

Project STAYERS is dedicated to the goal of obtaining 40,000 hours of PEM fuel cell lifetime employing the best technological and scientific means. Apart from materials research it also requires a detailed investigation of degradation mechanisms and their mitigation during continuous operation. Factors relevant for the balance of plant (BOP) will also be addressed. These are the operating temperature, degree of humidification of fuel and air, and the excess ratio with respect to the stoichiometry of the supplied gases. The effect of possible contaminants should be taken into account.

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A lifetime of 40,000 hours, if defined as the time elapsed until 10 % of the initial voltage is lost, is equivalent with an average voltage decay rate of 1.5μV/h. To establish this lifetime within the 26,000 hours of a three years project advanced materials research and development will be combined with models and accelerated tests.

SINTEF’s main role in this project is to conduct degradation investigations by accelerated stress tests (AST) of full scale cells. The characterization will be assisted by ex-situ experiments on both catalyst and membrane materials. An iterative approach is planned by performing at least 3 cycles of improvements and further improvement of AST protocols and parameters.

Financing from FCH JU, SINTEF's activity is co-financed by Research Council of Norway through the RENERGI-program.

Hosting organisation: NEDSTACK FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY BV.

 

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Project duration

01/01/2011 - 31/12/2013

Further information:
CORDIS, Project Reference: 256721

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