Abusive Testing of Proton Exchange Membrane Hydrogen Fuel Cells

In collaboration with Parker Hannifin Corporation, the Fire Safety Branch of the FAA conducted testing to evaluate the effects of three potential failure conditions of hydrogen proton exchange (or polymer electrolyte) membrane fuel cell stacks supplied by Nuvera Fuel Cells. The three conditions examined were a loss of coolant to the stack, short circuit, and a crossflow condition. The testing showed that the stacks were extremely robust under a variety of failure conditions and that, with proper monitoring of key variables, the failures could have been detected and flow of reactant gases stopped prior to any hazardous effects occurring.
It is recommended that any installation of a hydrogen fuel cell system ensure that reactant supply gas pressures, stack temperatures, coolant temperatures, and stack electrical load characteristics be adequately monitored and connected to system shutdown features. In addition, provisions should be made so that the surrounding environment is monitored for any temperature or hydrogen gas concentration increases.