Abstract
A 50 kW PEMFC pilot plant has been operated 4400 h using hydrogen originating from a sodium chlorate production process after standard industry purification processes were applied. The first stage of the fuel cell system operation was performed using anode gas recirculation, while in the other stages an open anode configuration was applied. The fuel cell system did not show extensive degradation despite the low quality of the hydrogen and frequent shut-downs. The average degradation rate was 2–3 μV per hour at low and medium currents (10–150 A). The main causes for any unreliability were found to be hydrogen supply side system components, namely pressure reducers and valves. Recommendations are given for the improvement of both PEMFC power plant design and operation for industrial hydrogen applications.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 27269-27283 |
Journal | International Journal of Hydrogen Energy |
Volume | 42 |
Issue number | 44 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2 Nov 2017 |
MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
This work has been supported by the Strategic Research Council at the Academy of Finland, project Transition to a resource efficient and climate neutral electricity system (EL-TRAN) grant number 293437. This work has been carried out under the Fuel Cells research program of TEKES, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology, within a jointly funded project involving VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and Finnish industry partners Kemira Chemicals Oy, Cargotec Finland Oy, Konecranes Plc, Leppäkosken sähkö Oy, ABB Oy, Woikoski Oy, MSc Electronics Oy, Wärtsilä Finland Oy and Fuel Cell Finland industry grouping, a part of Teknologiateollisuus Ry.
Keywords
- by-product hydrogen
- carbon monoxide
- fuel cell system
- hydrogen quality
- PEMFC
- stack degradation