Long Term Testing in Continuous Mode of HT‐PEMFC Based H₃PO₄/PBI Celtec‐P MEAs for μ‐CHP Applications

Abstract

Abstract Single cell and 500 We stack integrating Celtec P1000 MEAs were operated in continuous mode at 0.4 A cm –2 and 160 °C, under simulated reformate and air. Single cell's ohmic resistivity was almost unaffected by 1,100 h of ageing but the cell progressively switched from a cathodic to an anodic mass transfer limited operation. The stack was operated for 658 h, exhibiting the same behaviour and an additional increase in cell voltage distribution heterogeneity. CO 2 proved to have negligible effect on performances but performance losses induced by ageing are doubled in the presence of CO. Post‐testing experiments revealed that anode electrochemical active area was dramatically decreased and that platinum content was also decreased. Finally, results showed that a convenient shut‐down procedure could prevent or limit degradations associated with storage.