Bergen, Sept. 3 rd 2014 Maritime Fuel Cells - durability and performance aspects Anders Ødegård, SINTEF http://www.captainsvoyage-forum.com/forum/windjammer-bar-maritimeinterest/general-maritime-interrest-from-cruise-to-the-mercantile-marine-and-allships-between/1972-cruiseships-in-norwegian-waters-the-year-of-2011/page15 1
Main focus in PEMFC R&D Cost and(/vs) durability Lower cost -> less robust components/materials -> shorter lifetime/lower performance (-> higher cost ) Fuel (H 2 ) quality and tolerance for air impurities Linked to cost and durability Lifetime targets Automobile: 5 000 hours Stationary: 40 000 hours (~4.5 years) also for most maritime applications (?) => Impact of impurities is of high importance 2
Some possible FC impurities in maritime environment Air pollution: NO x SO x CO CO 2 NH 3 Airborne salts (chloride, sodium, ) 3
Some possible FC impurities in maritime environment Air pollution: NO x SO x CO CO 2 NH 3 Airborne salts (chloride, sodium, ) Hydrogen quality, depending on source of hydrogen: CO CO 2 H 2 S NH 3 4
Some possible FC impurities in maritime environment Air pollution: NO x SO x CO CO 2 NH 3 Airborne salts (chloride, sodium, ) Hydrogen quality, depending on source of hydrogen: CO CO 2 H 2 S NH 3 Contaminants from system (metal ions, organics, ) Mainly impact electrodes and membrane 5
STAYERS STAtionary PEM fuel cells with lifetimes beyond five YEaRS Main objective to carry out materials research to produce PEM fuel cell stacks with a lifetime of 40,000 hours for stationary applications where longevity and reliability are essential.
Durability evaluation of PEMFC components Accelerated stress tests Cathode electrode protocol Evaluated different electrodes 5-6 times acceleration factor compared to actual operation in system/power plant 7
Effect of CO in H 2 Before and after degradation experiments less robust with time 0,7 0,72 1 ppm CO @ anode 0,6 0,70 Cell voltage (V) 0,5 0,4 y=-0.057x+0.824 y=-0.143x+0.819 Cell voltage (V) 0,68 0,66 0,3 1 ppm CO @ anode 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Time (hrs) before AST after cathode AST 0,64 0,62 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Time (hrs) before AST after cathode AST MEA Type A MEA Type B 8
Effect of SO 2 in air 0.5 ppm SO 2 Different catalysts Dramatic loss in performance with only small amounts of SO 2. Low cost catalyst less tolerant to impurities. 9
HYCORA HyCoRA - Hydrogen Contaminant Risk Assessment 2014 to 2017 Objective is cost reduction for hydrogen fuel quality assurance Hydrogen contaminant research at PEMFC system level Measurement campaigns in hydrogen refueling stations 10
H 2 quality specifications Example levels Impurity ISO 14687-2:2012 [ppm] CO 0.2 Total sulphur compounds 0.004 Formaldehyde 0.01 Ammonia 0.1 Total halogenated compounds 0.05 Extremely difficult to perform gas analysis 11
Effect of chloride Even sub-ppm amounts of chloride leads to irreversible degradation of the catalyst 12
Further focus for maritime use of PEMFC Durability and tolerance of impurities Understand effects, multi-contaminant effects, controlled in real systems Increase tolerance (catalyst, membrane) Mitigation strategies Cost. 13
Further focus for maritime use of PEMFC Durability and tolerance of impurities Understand effects, multi-contaminant effects, controlled in real systems Increase tolerance (catalyst, membrane) Mitigation strategies Cost. => Can be approached in FCH JU projects under the new programme 14
Some of our project partners in FCH JU projects 15