Ageing Integration in PEMFC Range Extender Model for On-Board Prognostic Applications

The deployment of a FC range extender can be a suited solution to overcome the battery autonomy limitations in electrical vehicles and hybrid configurations. In the framework of the European project Giantleap, a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) range extender is integrated in an electrical bus to support the batteries' pack load demand. The prediction of both the FC ageing and its interactions with the balance of plant (BoP) is considered as a strategical approach to anticipate and consequently reduce the FC system performance degradations. A PEMFC stack model has been developed using the Energetic Macroscopic Representation formalism. The model integrates the stack ageing laws and is adapted for on-board prognostic and health management purposes. This paper presents shortly the model and its validation. For this purpose, the voltage losses increase with the stack ageing is presented. To prove the model genericity, two different ageing simulation results are proposed and compared with long-term test results. Data are referred to two different data-sets linked to two PEMFC stacks of the same technology, but of different generation.