DuRaPEM III

An improved understanding of the main degradation issues of the PEMFC has been obtained in the previous and on-going projects e.g. DuRaPEM II. Single cells have been operated in excess of 10,000 hours, but with unacceptable high degradation rates. The DuRaPEM III project objective is to further quantify the issues limiting the durability. The main focus will be to increase durability for stationary applications operating in a smart-grid and/or continuous mode scenario. The factors affecting performance degradation have gradually been recognized. New challenges have been encountered and some of the bottlenecks for improving the durability have been identified. The present project is directed at systematically addressing key durability issues from the individual materials to the stack level and in doing so establishing a profound level of understanding with respect to optimised materials and technologies that improves durability. Mitigation strategies for lifetime enhancements will be formulated in order to meet the challenging Danish durability road map targets. Since the basic degradation mechanisms are similar the integration of the three Danish PEMFC technology tracks in one project is expected to increase the durability to and potentially beyond the targets in the Danish roadmap.