Degradation of PEM Fuel Cells: Reducing Total Cost of Ownership by Optimization of Design and Operating Strategy of FCEVs

Authors

Dr.-Ing. M. Walters, FEV Europe GmbH, Aachen; S. Dirkes MSc, RWTH Aachen University:

Year

2021

Print Info

Production/Publication ÖVK

Summary

The breakthrough of fuel cells in commercial vehicle applications requires low total cost of ownership (TCO) as well as durable and reliable systems. With the help of the ‘Prognostics and Health Management’ (PHM) approach, which is presented in this paper, maintenance costs can be reduced and the service life of the systems increased. Critical operating states of components or systems can be detected early and the remaining service life can be predicted so, that maintenance is carried out as needed. Condition-based maintenance (CBM) allows components to be operated until their individual lifetime without system failure. Furthermore, the continuous knowledge of the State of Health (SoH) of the individual components within the fuel cell system enables prognostics-based decision making (PDM). Based on PDM, the operating strategy of the fuel cell system and the hybrid operating strategy in interaction with the traction battery can be improved. PHM methods are a building block to increase the lifetime of fuel cell systems and to achieve the requirements of more than 40,000 h service life for typical commercial vehicle applications.

Number of pages

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