Manufacturing of Low Cost, Durable Membrane Electrode Assemblies Engineered for Rapid Conditioning [electronic resource]
Mea, Gore; Fuel Cell Manufacturing; Roll-To-Roll Processing; Pem; Pemfc; Membrane Electrode Assembly; Fuel Cell Stack; Fuel Cell Break-In; Fuel Cell Durability; Direct Coating.
Saved in:
| Online Access: |
Online Access (via OSTI) |
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| Format: | Government Document Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Washington, D.C. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. :
United States. Office of the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy ; distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Department of Energy,
2017.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Mea, Gore; Fuel Cell Manufacturing; Roll-To-Roll Processing; Pem; Pemfc; Membrane Electrode Assembly; Fuel Cell Stack; Fuel Cell Break-In; Fuel Cell Durability; Direct Coating. |
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| Abstract: | Over the past 20 years significant progress in membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) technology development for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs) has resulted in the PEMFC technology approaching a commercial reality for transportation applications. However, there remain two primary technical challenges to be addressed in the MEA. First and foremost is meeting the automotive cost targets: Producing a fuel cell stack cost competitive with today’s internal combustion engine. In addition to the material cost, MEA (and other components) and stack assembly production methods must be amenable for use in low cost, high speed, automotive assembly line. One impediment to this latter goal is that stack components must currently go through a long and tedious conditioning procedure before they produce optimal power. This so-called “break-in” can take many hours, and can involve quite complex voltage, temperature and/or pressure steps. These break-in procedures must be simplified and the time required reduced if fuel cells are to become a viable automotive engine. The second challenge is to achieve the durability targets in real-world automotive duty cycle operations. Significant improvements in cost, break-in time, and durability for the key component of fuel cell stacks, MEAs were achieved in this project. Advanced modeling was used to guide design of the new MEA to maximize performance and durability. A new, innovative process and manufacturing approach utilizing direct in-line coating using scalable, cost-competitive, continuous high volume 3-layer rolled-good manufacturing processes was developed and validated by single cell and short stack testing. In addition, the direct coating methods employed were shown to reduce the cost for sacrificial films. Furthermore, Gore has demonstrated a 10 µm reinforced membrane that is used in the new low-cost process and can meet automotive power density and durability targets. Across a wide range of operating conditions, the direct-coated MEA outperformed the commercial baseline MEA, and did so through a process that delivers MEAs at $92.35/m2 at a volume of 500,000 systems per year, according to Strategic Analysis (SA) estimates. |
| Item Description: | Published through SciTech Connect. 05/23/2017. "doe-gore--18052" Colin Busby. W. L. Gore & Associates Inc., Newark, DE (United States) |
| Physical Description: | 132 p. : digital, PDF file. |
| Type of Report and Period Covered Note: | Final; |