Assessment of the influence of cycling conditions of start-up and stop-up processes of a protonexchange membrane fuel cell stack on its operational life

THE PURPOSE of this work is to describe the cycling algorithms for fuel cell batteries with proton exchange membranes, which are suitable for use in regular operation in vehicles and during resource testing in laboratory conditions. To conduct a comprehensive assessment of the considered cycling algorithms and quantitatively evaluate the impact of internal processes on the duration of operation.
METHODS. To evaluate the proposed cycling algorithms, specialized software AVL Cruise M was used to create a digital 1D model of a fuel cell battery that describes the key processes occurring in fuel cells.
RESULTS. The article describes the mechanism of degradation processes that occur in fuel cells during their cyclic operation. A quantitative comparison was made of the results of applying two cycling algorithms based on the concentrations of platinum in the membrane, hydrogen peroxide, the specific electrochemical surface area of the catalytic layer, voltage reduction with each cycle, and other key indicators. The practical significance of the work lies in the detailed description of the two recommended fuel cell battery cycling algorithms: the first algorithm is applicable for the operation of fuel cell batteries in a vehicle, while the second is suitable for determining battery life. The latter algorithm will reduce the time spent on resource testing from 25,000 to 123 hours.
CONCLUSION. The results of the study showed that the main causes of increased degradation during cyclic operation are significant changes in the potentials on the catalytic layers of the fuel cells that make up the battery, as well as the diffusion of reagents, which can lead to the emergence of reverse current in certain areas of the fuel cells. When considering steady-state operation as the base process, it was found that in the first 50 hours of operation, there is a sharp decrease in voltage, which stabilizes only after 300 hours.

1. Bravo D., Boillot L. Historical Analysis of Clean Hydrogen JU Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, Buses and Refuelling Infrastructure Projects // JRC Publications Repository. 2024. doi:10.2760/892745.

2. Kornilov S.V., Zvereva E.R., Fedorova A.A., et al. Prospects for the development of hydrogen energy and the market for hydrogen-powered vehicles // Kazan state power engineering university bulletin. 2022. Vol. 14. No. 4 (56). pp. 3–18.

3. Kornilov S.V., Simonov I.V., Zvereva E.R. Research on hydrogen fuel cell energy systems for vehicles // Proceedings of the VI All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference of Students and Teachers “Energy and Automation in Modern Society”; St. Petersburg. 2023. pp. 189–198.

4. Killingland M, Taylor C, Eriksen R. Hydrogen forecast to 2050 // DNV. 2022. 114 с.

5. Pei P., Meng Y., Chen D., et al. Lifetime prediction method of proton exchange membrane fuel cells based on current degradation law // Energy. 2023. V. 265, 126341. doi: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.126341.

6. Zhang T., Wang P., Chen H., et al. A review of automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cell degradation under start-stop operating condition // Appl Energy. 2018. Vol. 4, pp. 249 - 262. doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.04.049.

7. Oyarce A., Zakrisson E., Ivity M., at al. Comparing shut-down strategies for proton exchange membrane fuel cells // Journal of Power Sources. 2014. Vol. 254, pp. 232–240. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.12.058.

8. Drugeot T., Micoud F., Pinton E., at al. Experimental assessment of proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance degradations during emulated start-up/shut-down phases // International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2023. Vol. 48, pp. 5630 - 5642. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.11.020.

9. Arrigoni A., Arosio V., Basso A., at al. Greenhouse Gas Implications of Extending the Service Life of PEM Fuel Cells for Automotive Applications: A Life Cycle Assessment // Clean Technologies. 2022. Vol. 4, pp. 132–148. doi: 10.3390/cleantechnol4010009.

10. Dirkes S., Leidig J., Fisch P., at al. Prescriptive Lifetime Management for PEM fuel cell systems in transportation applications, Part II: On-board operando feature extraction, condition assessment and lifetime prediction // Energy Conversion and Management. 2023. Vol. 283, 116943. doi: 10.1016/j.enconman.2023.116943.

11. Zhou Z., Ye L., Qiu D., at al. Experimental investigation and decoupling of voltage losses distribution in proton exchange membrane fuel cells with a large active area // Chemical Engineering Journal. 2023. Vol. 452, 139497. doi: 10.1016/j.cej.2022.139497.

12. Bisello A., Colombo E., Baricci A., at al. Mitigated Start-Up of PEMFC in Real Automotive Conditions: Local Experimental Investigation and Development of a New Accelerated Stress Test Protocol // Journal of The Electrochemical Society. 2021. Vol. 168, 054501. doi: 10.1149/1945-7111/abf77b.

13. Reiser C., Bregoli L., Patterson T., at al. A Reverse-Current Decay Mechanism for Fuel Cells // Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters. 2005. Vol. 8, pp 273 - 276. doi: 10.1149/1.1896466.

14. Clemens F., Edjokola J., Telenta M., at al. Modeling of Catalyst Degradation in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Applied to Three-Dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation // Fuel Cells From Fundamentals to Systems. 2024. Vol. 24. doi: 10.1002/fuce.202300237.

15. Soleymani A., Bonville L., Wang C., at al. Quantifying key parameters to provide better understating of microstructural changes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells during degradation: A startup/shutdown case study // Journal of Power Sources. 2023. Vol. 563. 232807. doi: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.232807.

16. He L., Zhan Z., Hong C., at al. A quick evaluation method for the lifetime of the fuel cell MEA with the particle filter algorithm // International Journal of Green Energy. 2021. Vol. 18, pp 1536 – 1549. doi: 10.1080/15435075.2021.1911809.

17. Fan J., Yang Y., Ma T., at al. Investigation on a Shutdown Control Strategy with Residual Oxygen Rapid Elimination for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System // Energies. 2023. Vol. 16. 1285. doi: 10.3390/en16031285.

18. Liu J., Chen H., Zhang T. Analysis of cold start characteristics in a PEMFC stack with different current loading modes // International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2024. Vol. 51, pp. 1456 – 1476. doi: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.06.303.

19. Burlatsky S., Gummalla M., Atrazhev V., at al. The Dynamics of Platinum Precipitation in an Ion Exchange Membrane // Journal of The Electrochemical Society. 2011. Vol. 158, pp. 322- 330. doi: 10.1149/1.3532956.

20. Wong K., Kjeang E. Macroscopic In-Situ Modeling of Chemical Membrane Degradation in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells // Journal of The Electrochem Society. 2014. Vol. 161, pp. 823–832. doi: 10.1149/2.0031409jes.