- MEAs and Membranes: Development, Degradation and Testing
- PEM FC under Extreme Conditions : Cold Climate, Freeze Start, Mechanical Vibrations, Contaminated Feed
- Durability, Degradation and Testing of Components/Stacks/
- Development and Durability/Degradation of PEM FC Electrocatalysts
Table of Contents :
Chapter 1
The President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative: Improving Durability
Nancy Garland, PhD, Technology Development Manager, Office of Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies, U.S. Department of Energy
The DOE Hydrogen Program works to overcome technical barriers of fuel cell vehicle and hydrogen infrastructure technologies. Significant technical challenges in fuel cell technology include cost and durability. In 2006, the Hydrogen Program initiated new RD&D efforts aimed at tackling DOE 2010 technical targets such as 5000 hours durability with cycling for 80-kWe (net) integrated transportation fuel cell power systems. These new efforts will be discussed.
Chapter 2
Fuel Cell Manufacturing Costs: Trends and Cost Reduction Strategies
Ski Milburn, CEO & CTO, VAIREX Corporation
For PEM fuel cell technology to be successful in the market place, it must be competitive in several key metrics, including performance, life, durability, and cost. This presentation will address the key cost drivers of PEMFC stacks including material and process contributions and stack performance. As the cost of stacks decrease, balance-of-plant components will contribute a larger percentage to overall system cost. The interactions between stack materials, operating condition requirements, and balance-of-plant components will be discussed with regard to system cost and complexity.
Chapter 3
Designing for Durability and Performance in Extreme Environments:
Bruce J. Tatarchuk, PhD, Professor, Dept of Chemical Engineering, Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing, Auburn University
Environmental factors strongly affect the performance, power density, life cycle cost and overall efficacy of fuel cell integrated power systems. Two specific factors will be presented in this talk, (i) the influence of contaminated feeds and methodologies to mitigate these influences at both the anode as well as the cathode, and (ii) the influence of vibration and shock from the catastrophic event to the normally anticipated operating environment.
Chapter 4
Durability Issues for Advanced, Low Precious Metal MEAs
Emory S. De Castro, PhD, Executive Vice President, E-TEK Division, PEMEAS Fuel Cell Technologies
Through support from the Department of Energy, E-TEK developed ion beam assisted deposition methods to create MEAs for the PEM market. We have achieved total precious metal loadings of under 0.2 mg/cm2 platinum, and demonstrated moderate success toward achieving the 2010 automotive specific power goals (g Pt/kW). In developing materials with ultra-low platinum loading, several issues arise for durability. We will discuss the results and analysis of durability testing on these low loaded structures, as well as general results on developing MEA components to meet long term operation.
Chapter 5
Realizing Automotive Stack Needs through MEA Development
Kev Adjemian, PhD, Manager, Fuel Cell Laboratory, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
The most significant factor governing automotive fuel cell stack performance and durability is the MEA (Membrane Electrode Assembly). Nissan Motor Company’s approach has been to attack each component of the MEA separately and then to further improve the assembly itself. This has been accomplished by understanding and mitigating the basic failure mechanisms of the membrane, the platinum catalyst, the carbon support and overall MEA design. Using this strategy, major steps towards FC commercialization are being realized.
Chapter 6
Membrane Degradation Mechanisms in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells
Vishal O. Mittal, PhD, Florida Solar Energy Center, University of Central Florida
Membrane degradation mechanisms in PEMFCs were studied using an in-situ and nondestructive technique, which relies on the measurement of the membrane degradation rate in a fuel cell. Degradation of Nafion� membranes were studied and the fluoride emission rate (FER) as measured from the fuel cell effluent water analysis was used as a quantitative indicator of the membrane degradation rate. The degradation mechanisms as proposed in the literature and the ones hypothesized from the experimental findings will be discussed.
Chapter 7
Accelerated Evaluation of Membrane Degradation and Degradation Mechanisms
Doanh Tran, Manager, Advanced Vehicle Engineering, Fuel Cell Systems Group, DaimlerChrysler
The lifetime of PEM fuel cells is limited by chemical degradation of the membrane due to hydrogen peroxide induced radical attack [A.B. LaConti, Handbook of Fuel Cells, V.3, 2003]. A novel accelerated ex-situ test is presented to quickly asses the lifetime of a membrane. The set up mimics radical attack (O2H, OH-radicals)
Chapter 8
Fuel Cells in Cold Climate
Joakim Nordlund, PhD, Co-Founder, Cellkraft AB, Sweden
The presentation will include data and results from Cellkraft’s on-going work developing fuel cells for cold climate applications. Results will be shown from both field testing and laboratory results, including thermal cycling and cold start of fuel cells from -30C.
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