PROJECT INFO

INVESTIGATING LIFE-TIME LIMITATIONS

MORELife will demonstrate improvements of materials and operating strategies to enhance the durability and reliability of fuel cell stacks for heavy duty truck application. The project will reach ambitious goals of power density > 1.2 W/cm² at 0.675 V/cell and PGM loading ≤0.3 g/kW, while achieving system durability of 30,000 h of operation with <10 % performance loss. 
Degradation issues based on real life application data will be identified. With this, both highly specific accelerated stress tests (ASTs) for the shortened test duration for lifetime verification as well as advanced degradation models will be developed. Thereby, the needed improvements on the material and operation strategy level will be defined. Improved materials will be evaluated on different levels by the partners. Starting on a small scale single cell level and moving up to the full commercial scale short stack level, the project aims to establish a firm mechanistic understanding at the smaller single cell scale that is then successfully understood, evaluated, and proven at the commercial short stack level using both accelerated degradation methods and HD-application relevant environments. After validation of the operating conditions based on the improved materials the results will be fed back into the models to validate the improvements compared to state of-the-art materials and prove a predicted lifetime of 30,000h. 


 

TECHNICAL INNOVATION

MORELife has a strong dedication to the implementation of novel materials (catalysts and GDLs) into MEAs for heavy-duty application, tackling the critical failure modes observed in real fuel cell powered trucks and buses. Pre-existing and proven models will be used as a tool to predict material lifetimes based on material characteristics and AST output. The improved materials will be evaluated on different levels by the partners. Starting on a small scale single cell level and moving up to the full commercial scale short stack level. After validation of the operating conditions based on the improved materials the results will be fed back into the models to validate the improvements compared to state of-the-art materials and prove a predicted lifetime of 30,000 h.


 

OBJECTIVES

IMPROVEMENT OF MATERIALS AND OPERATION STRATEGIES

This project aims at the improvement of materials and operating strategies in order to enhance the durability and reliability for the specific needs of fuel cells in heavy duty truck application. Fuel cells for heavy duty application have extraordinarily high lifetime requirements. Whereas automotive applications target 6.000 h, the truck and bus sectors are demanding 30.000 h or more of operational time. This is a challenge for all materials – from the core of the Membrane electrode assembly (MEA) to system components and controls. On the other hand, drive cycles of heavy-duty vehicles are much more tolerant to slow responses and thus, conditions closer to stationary operation can be achieved. In stationary application, extensive lifetimes have already been proven in real application in the past.

WORK PLAN

LATEST NEWS

MORELife @ Gordon Research Conference 2024

MORELife @ GRC, taking place from 28 July – 01 August 2024 in the US

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MORELife @ TRA Conference 2024

MORELife was part of the TRA, taking place from 15 – 18 April 2024 in Dublin

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5th General Assembly Meeting

Another sucessful GA Meeting was organized by AVL from 4th to 5th of April in Graz.

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