Reliablity assessment of fuel cell system - A framework for quantitative approach

Hydrogen Fuel Cell (FC) technologies have been developed to overcome the operational and environmental challenges associated with using conventional power sources. Telecommunication industry, in particular, has implemented FC systems for the backup power function. The designers and manufacturers of such FC systems have great interest in verifying the performance and safety of their systems. Reliability assessment is designated to support decision-making about the optimal design and the operation strategies for FC systems to be commercial viable. This involves the properties of the system such as component failures, the system architecture, and operational strategies. This paper suggests an approach that includes Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), and Reliability Block Diagram (RBD). For a case study, and the service lifetime of a commercial 5 kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) system is estimated for backup power applications, in terms of the critical components, subsystems and the whole system.