EFCF 2025: Low-Temp. Fuel Cells, Elec olyse s & H2 P ocessing 1 – 4 July 2025, Luce ne Swi ze land
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17244129 A1008 Page 1/5
A1008
PEMFC du abili y es ing using hea y-du y load cycles
Jens Mi zel* (1), Juan Sanchez-Mon eal (1), Julien Du s (2), Ke in Goda d (2),
Ch is ophe Vacquie (2) Pawel Gazdzicki (1)
(1) Ge man Ae ospace Cen e (DLR), Ins i u e o Enginee ing The modynamics,
S u ga /Ge many;
(2) SYMBIO, A on - unne hyd ogen company, Sain -Fons/F ance;
*Con ac co esponding au ho s: www.EFCF.com/Con ac Reques
Abs ac
PEMFC is a key echnology o he deca boniza ion o he anspo sec o . The use o
hyd ogen powe ed ehicles appea s as mos p omising solu ion o main ain d i ing ange
and e ueling ime compe i i e o adi ional combus ion engine ehicles. Bo h aspec s a e
o high impo ance o Hea y-Du y Vehicles (HDV), bu he PEMFC implemen a ion in his
ype o ehicles has been add essed only ecen ly. The eby, he main ocus o de elopmen
has shi ed owa ds ope a ion a highe ol ages o inc ease uel e iciency and owa ds
du abili y. The PEMTASTIC p ojec [1] aims o mee hese key echnical challenges o he
memb ane-elec ode assembly (MEA) by a combina ion o model-based MEA design and
inno a i e ma e ials ailo ed o hea y du y ope a ion a ele a ed empe a u es.
In con as o he au omo i e applica ion, he e is s ill a lack o ha monized load cycles o
hea y-du y applica ion. The e o e, his wo k will demons a e how o selec a ep esen a i e
mission p o ile and how o de i e a PEMFC load cycle om his p o ile based on he selec ed
ehicle cha ac e is ics and hyb idiza ion s a egy (Figu e 1). In his way, a HD ep esen a i e
cycle is de ined o du abili y es s on s ack le el by a cu en densi y p o ile and o
di e en ial cells by a cell ol age p o ile. This app oach enables he b eak-down o
deg ada ion analysis o di e en ial cells. Mos impo an pa ame e s o eliable and
ep oducible du abili y cha ac e iza ion will be demons a ed. Fu he mo e, esul s o
deg ada ion es s o di e en MEAs using his HD load cycle will be p esen ed oge he wi h
in-si u and ex-si u cha ac e iza ion esul s o demons a e he impo ance o such a HD
ep esen a i e load cycle and i s impac on he di e en ma e ials o he MEA componen s.
The p ojec PEMTASTIC (GA numbe : 10110143) is suppo ed by he Clean Hyd ogen
Pa ne ship and i s membe s Hyd ogen Eu ope and Hyd ogen Eu ope Resea ch.
Figu e 1: Analysis o uck powe equi emen s based on mission p o iles.
EFCF 2025: Low-Temp. Fuel Cells, Elec olyse s & H2 P ocessing 1 – 4 July 2025, Luce ne Swi ze land
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17244129 A1008 Page 2/5
In oduc ion
The educ ion o g eenhouse gas emissions is necessa y in o de o achie e he clima e
a ge s se in Eu ope. Looking a he global CO2 a oidance po en ial [2], o e 3.1 G (a ound
50%) can be a ibu ed o he anspo sec o , o which a ound 25% is a ibu able o hea y
goods anspo (Figu e 2A). This sha e is expec ed o inc ease o 40% by 2030. Reducing
emissions om hea y goods ehicles is he e o e an impo an goal o achie ing he clima e
a ge s se by he EU in he anspo sec o . The elec i ica ion o hea y goods anspo is
inc easingly becoming he ocus o uel cell applica ions due o ad an ages such as long
ange, as e ueling and high powe and ene gy densi y.
Un il 2020, uel cell applica ions in he anspo sec o we e mainly ocused on passenge
ca s, ligh comme cial ehicles and public anspo . The ad an ages o uel cells ha e
al eady been demons a ed in hese a eas and he p oduc ion o uel cell componen s,
s acks and sys ems is al eady being ealized in small se ies. The use o uel cell sys ems
o hea y du y comme cial ehicles is s ill limi ed o a ew p o o ype demons a ions, bu is
gaining inc easing a en ion and in e es om uck OEMs.
The i s p o o ype lee s a e a ailable om Hyundai [3], Ho izon Fuel Cell Technologies [4]
and Toyo a [5]. The i s p o o ype ucks a e also a ailable om Eu opean companies such
as Daimle T ucks [6], IVECO [7] and VDL [8]. So a , howe e , sys ems and componen s
om he au omo i e indus y ha e been used and adap ed o hese p o o ypes. This is no
enough o ul il he equi emen s in he hea y-du y sec o . Componen s wi h a high powe
densi y, bu abo e all wi h a long li e ime, mus be de eloped. While he equi ed powe
densi y in a uck is simila o ha o a ca , he equi ed li e ime is a ound 6 imes highe [9].
In addi ion, i mus be emphasized ha due o he equi emen s o he he mal managemen
sys em, i is impo an o inc ease he accep able ope a ing empe a u e o he uel cell
o >95°C as pa o he ope a ing s a egy in o de o make uel cells sui able o uck
applica ions. In o de o ul il he equi emen s o du abili y and high e iciency (see Figu e
2B), i is no su icien o use ma e ials om he au omo i e and s a iona y sec o s. New
componen ma e ials, cell designs and ope a ing s a egies ailo ed o he applica ion mus
be de eloped o his special applica ion.
Figu e 2: CO2 a oidance po en ial [2] by 2050 using hyd ogen echnologies (A) and he
di e ence be ween FC o di e en applica ions in e ms o cos d i e s and syne gies wi h
o he high-powe applica ions.
Fo his pu pose, i is pa icula ly impo an o es he pe o mance and li e ime unde eal,
applica ion-speci ic condi ions and load cycles. The e o e, a me hodology o de i ing load
cycles o uel cell es benches om eal d i ing cycles o HDVs was de eloped. The
applica ion o his me hodology is demons a ed using he example o a VECTO-based
d i ing cycle. The cha ac e iza ion o he se ice li e o MEAs unde hese eal ope a ing
condi ions is p esen ed and impo an e ec s o hese ageing es s on he indi idual MEA
componen s a e shown.
EFCF 2025: Low-Temp. Fuel Cells, Elec olyse s & H2 P ocessing 1 – 4 July 2025, Luce ne Swi ze land
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17244129 A1008 Page 3/5
1. Scien i ic App oach
Realis ic HD uel cell s ack ope a ion p o ocols we e de i ed om uck mission p o iles,
based on s anda dized Eu opean du y cycles om he VECTO da abase. The selec ed HD
mission p o ile is based on a daily d i e cycle o a HD uck d i e du ing a 11 h 45 min shi
including 9 h o d i ing, 2 h loading goods and 45 min b eak (Figu e 3). The mechanical
powe ob ained om he cycle analysis is used as powe demand o he elec ical mo o and
ehicle da a o a gene ic ac o aile up o 40 a e used o simula ion, co e ing ehicle
mass, on al a ea (ai d ag), and olling esis ance.
Figu e 3: HD mission p o ile selec ed o ep esen a i e HDV ope a ion.
Semiempi ical models a e used o de e mine he ope a i e condi ions o all he componen s
o he hyb id sys em and hus o he uel cell sys em and i s componen s. An applica ion
ele an hyb idiza ion s a egy was applied o enable low H2 consump ion o comply wi h
high uel e iciency equi emen s and a oiding mos se e e and damaging uel cell and
elec ochemical co e s esso s. The uel cell sys em applied o simula ion is based on he
M2FCT Re e ence Fuel Cell Sys em o Hea y-Du y T ucks [10] and pe o mance da a o a
comme cial e e ence MEA a e used o p o ile b eak-down o he s ack and cell le el.
The PEMFC s ack ope a ing condi ions a e de ined o s acks and echnical single cells as
well as o di e en ial cells. Fo he la e , local ope a ing condi ions a e de i ed a e applied
o di e en ial cells allowing well con olled and accu a e expe imen s. A key aspec is o
e alua e he impac o high ope a ion empe a u es >95°C, which a e p esen a leas close
o he coolan ou le .
2. Expe imen s/Calcula ions/Simula ions
The p esen ed es s we e ca ied ou using a liquid-cooled PEMFC di e en ial cell om
bal icFuelCells (cF12-100HA) using all pa allel low ields enabling high con ol o
empe a u e and gas p essu e along he en i e gas channels. The ac i e a ea o his cell is
12 cm² (4 cm long and 3 cm wide) and i is ope a ed a high gas low (hyd ogen and ai using
s oichiome ies o 10 a 3 A/cm²) o minimize oxygen deple ion in he used ai and o mimic
gas eloci ies in a s ack. This di e en ial cell was ope a ed using an in-house manu ac u ed
es s a ion using hyd ogen (g ade 5.0), ni ogen (g ade 5.0) and comp essed ambien ai
(pa icle- il e ed, d ied and oil- ee). The used es s a ion is equipped wi h bubble
e apo a o s, high p ecision mass low and p essu e con olle s, a he mos a and an
elec onic load. Silicon oil is used o coolan . All eac an supply pipes a e elec ically hea ed
and he mally insula ed o a oid wa e condensa ion in he eed s eams. All es s we e
ca ied ou using es p o ocols de eloped in he PEMTASTIC p ojec s and publicly a ailable
[11].
EFCF 2025: Low-Temp. Fuel Cells, Elec olyse s & H2 P ocessing 1 – 4 July 2025, Luce ne Swi ze land
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17244129 A1008 Page 4/5
3. Resul s
The me hodology o he applied semiempi ical models used o de e mine he ope a i e
condi ions o he hyb id sys em componen s was al eady p esen ed du ing he EFCF 2023
[12]. The esul ing load cycle o di e en ial cells is de ined in cell ol age (Figu e 4) o enable
compa a i e s udies be ween di e en MEAs and di e en local posi ions in he s ack. These
local condi ions a s ack ai inle and ou le a e calcula ed based on a simple s ack model
using hyd ogen and ai in coun e - low and he coolan and ai in co- low con igu a ion. The
esul ing anodic and ca hodic p essu e d op was calcula ed acco ding o a cu en densi y
o 1.5 A cm-2. The applied ope a ing condi ions a e also summa ized in Figu e 4.
Figu e 4: HD mission p o ile selec ed o ep esen a i e HDV ope a ion
The p esen ed wo k will demons a e he mos impo an pa ame e s o eliable and
ep oducible du abili y cha ac e iza ion. The esul s o se e al deg ada ion es s and ela ed
in-si u and ex-si u cha ac e iza ion o he used MEAs will be p esen ed. The e o e, di e en
MEAs we e analyzed and he impac o local condi ions on deg ada ion phenomena we e
analyzed. The p esen ed esul s will iden i y bo lenecks in MEA design o hea y-du y
applica ion and will demons a e how he a ge KPIs can be achie ed h ough ma e ial and
s uc u al adjus men s.
Re e ences
[1] h ps://pem as ic-p ojec .eu/
[2] Ene gy, En i onmen and New Ma e ials; de G uy e ; ISBN 9783110596243; J. Mi zel,
A. K. F ied ich; U iliza ion o Hyd ogen o Sus ainable Ene gy and Fuels; p. 367-398;
DOI: 10.1515/9783110596274.
[3] h ps://www.hyundai.news/eu/a icles/p ess- eleases/xcien - uel-cell- ucks- eco d-
d i ing-dis ance-swi ze land.h ml
[4] h ps://clean echnica.com/2020/05/18/hyzon-mo o s- o-begin-p oduc ion-o -hea y-
du y- uel-cell- ucks-buses- his-yea /
[5] h ps://p ess oom. oyo a.com/ oyo a-expands-commi men - o-hyd ogen-socie y-wi h-
lee -in as uc u e-and-nex -gen-sys em-debu /
[6] h ps://insidee s.com/news/444480/me cedes-genh2- uck- uel-cell-concep - uck/
[7] h ps://www.elec icmo o enginee ing.com/e e y hing- eady- o-p oduce- he-elec ic-
uck-by-i eco-nikola/
[8] h ps://news oom. oyo a.eu/ dl-g oep- e eals- uel-cell- uck- o - oyo as-eu opean-
logis ics/
EFCF 2025: Low-Temp. Fuel Cells, Elec olyse s & H2 P ocessing 1 – 4 July 2025, Luce ne Swi ze land
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17244129 A1008 Page 5/5
[9] h ps://www.clean-hyd ogen.eu opa.eu/knowledge-managemen /s a egy-map-and-
key-pe o mance-indica o s/clean-hyd ogen-ju-s ia-key-pe o mance-indica o s-
kpis_en
[10] h ps://millionmile uelcell uck.o g/
[11] h ps://pem as ic-p ojec .eu/wp-con en /uploads/2023/09/PEMTASTIC_D1.3_Public-
epo -on-de ini ion-o -FC- es -p o ocols_pg_d a .pd
[12] J. Sanchez-Mon eal, J. Mi zel, P. Gazdzicki; EFCF 2023, A1511, Analysis o Hea y-
Du y Requi emen s and Mission P o iles o De elop ASTs o PEMFC.
Keywo ds: EFCF2025, H2, Low Tempe a u e Fuel Cells, Hea y-Du y, Mission P o ile,
Hyb idiza ion S a egy, Li e Time
Rema k: This wo k is licensed unde C ea i e Commons A ibu ion 4.0 In e na ional
