Advances in rapid and effective break-in/conditioning/recovery of automotive PEMFC stacks

Automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks need to meet manufacturer specified rated beginning-of-life (BOL) performance before being assembled into vehicles and shipped off to customers. The process of breaking-in of a freshly assembled stack is often referred to as conditioning. It has become an intensely researched area especially in automotive companies, where imminent commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) demands a short, energy- and costefficient, and practical conditioning protocol. Significant advances in reducing the conditioning time from 1 to 2 days to as low as 4h or less, in some cases without the use of additional inert gases such as nitrogen, and with minimal use of hydrogen, and specialized test stations will be discussed.

Automated summary

This article discusses the conditioning process of automotive proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks, focusing on a short, energy-efficient, cost-effective, and practical conditioning method. Significant advances have been made in shortening the conditioning time to 4 hours or less through continuous research.