Fuel Cell System

IFE has designed and built a flexible PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) system platform which is now available for testing of small-scale hydrogen supplied fuel cell stacks up to 20 kW.  The PEMFC test rig is a part of the national infrastructure “The Norwegian Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Centre” (N-FCH).  The PEMFC-system is integrated with an advanced power conditioning system which makes it possible to emulate different load profiles (e.g., maritime, and heavy-duty vehicle load cycles). The PEMFC-system can also be hybridized with a Li-ion battery energy storage system and integrated with a 16 kW PV-system.

The highly configurable PEM fuel cell test rig at IFE is heavily instrumented and well suited to test and qualify new PEM fuel cell stacks and key system components for the overall balance of plant (BoP), as well as new advanced power control systems. The PEMFC-system is particularly suited for testing of hybrid fuel cell / battery power system configurations and operational schemes for maritime and heavy-duty vehicle applications. The PEMFC-system can also be used to validate small-scale (5-20 kW) hydrogen fuel cell-based uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system configurations.

Fuel Cell Research Capabilities

• PEM fuel cell stack testing up to 20 kW
• Testing and characterization of key PEMFC system and balance of plant (BoP) components
• Electrochemical in-situ characterization of stacks, including advanced impedance spectroscopy:
  • In-situ (on-line) determination of stack state of health
  • Study of degradation mechanisms in electrodes, electrolyte, and other key components
  • Determination of optimum operation conditions, cell design, and stack designs
• Testing of PEMFC-system performance at various operating conditions and load profiles
• Testing of hybrid PEMFC / Li-ion battery power system configurations
• Modeling of PEM fuel cell systems and hybrid PEM fuel cell / Li-ion battery systems
• PEM fuel cell system design and techno economic analysis

Laboratories 

IFE Hynor Hydrogen Technology Center (IFE Hynor) – IFE

Projects

Europe’s Rail Sustainable and Green Rail System (Rail4EARTH)

FME MoZEES

FME HYDROGENi – Norwegian research and innovation centre for hydrogen and ammonia – IFE

Links

Concept risk assessment of a hydrogen driven high speed passenger ferry – ScienceDirect

Energy and cost analysis of a hydrogen driven high speed passenger ferry – IOS Press

Estimating the replacement potential of Norwegian high-speed passenger vessels with zero-emission solutions. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment 2021 ;Volum 99:103019. s. 1-17
TØI IFE

Multi-Sine EIS for Early Detection of PEMFC Failure Modes. Frontiers in Energy Research 2022; Volume 10:855985. (Frontiers | Multi-Sine EIS for Early Detection of PEMFC Failure Modes (frontiersin.org)