Research Unit F: Degradation and efficiency in fuel cells for stationary applications

Within this Research Unit of the DFG-funded DuraFuelCell project, the application of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) will be investigated for the cogeneration of heat and power for stationary applications in buildings, residential areas, and districts. The feedstocks, hydrogen and air, are converted into electricity and heat (water is also formed). As part of the research, a number of model scenarios will be analysed to provide electricity and heat to individual households and a larger urban district. The central defining variable is the ratio of heat to electricity demand in the respective building or residential area. Real data from representative buildings, residential areas, and districts will be utilised to model various demand scenarios for the summer (low heat demand) and winter (high heat demand) seasons. These demands will be matched against the experimentally determined electricity and heat production capacities of a kilowatt-scale PEMFC in a laboratory environment. In addition, the integration of photovoltaic and wind systems in combination with battery storage as a day-night buffer for electricity and electrolysers and a thermal energy storage system for the seasonal shift of electricity and/or heat oversupply will be considered for the modelling. An emphasis of the investigations will be the analysis of PEMFC degradation in the context of their application as cogeneration units and the consequences of electrical and/or thermal efficiency losses of the fuel cell on the supply of useful electricity and heat in the context of the model scenarios. The following insights will be gained through this Research Unit:

  • Rapid concept development and testing for the integration of PEMFCs in stationary cogeneration environments;
  • Fundamental understanding of operating conditions in electric and heat operating modes through a combination of theoretical and experimental work;
  • Detailed understanding on the interplay between PEMFC cogeneration units and energy generating systems (photovoltaics, wind), energy storage systems (battery, electrolyser, hydrogen and thermal energy storage) and end users in buildings, residential areas, and districts;
  • Investigations into the combination with other heat and power generators for peak load coverage, such as heat pumps;
  • Concepts for the uninterrupted supply of electricity and heat to households, residential areas, and districts over the year;
  • Detailed understanding of different PEMFC operating conditions and their effect on the supply of electricity and heat for buildings and districts;
  • Understanding the effects of fuel cell degradation on the supply of electricity and heat in the context of cogeneration for buildings, residential areas, and districts;
  • Analysis of key parameters from the experimental work performed in this Research Unit (e.g., temperatures and pressures of reactants and products, Pt electrocatalyst concentrations in product water, H2 / O2 concentrations in product gases);
  • Characterisation of the stack and balance of plant components after experimental tests (in cooperation with other Research Units).

A catalogue of requirements will be worked out towards the end of the project for the application of fuel cells in buildings and urban environments. The achieved research results will provide a foundation for future implementation projects of fuel cells in buildings and residential areas.

Project partners: Various partners including municipal utilities and energy companies

 

This project is being carried out at the H2Ohm Institute and at the Institute for Energy and Building (ieg).

Principal investigators

Name Contact
Ulrich Ulmer Ulrich Ulmer
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Arno Dentel Arno Dentel
Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Volker Stockinger Volker Stockinger
Prof. Dr.

Research associates

Name Contact
Lukas Bär Lukas Bär
M.Sc.
Nikolas Seidl Nikolas Seidl
M.Eng.