Accelerated testing of a micro PEM fuel cell deployed in the field

In Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells(PEMFC) used for field applications, usually air is used as oxidant instead of oxygen in the cathode. This can reduce the overall system size eliminating the need of oxygen cylinders. But in the field, due to changing atmospheric conditions, purity of air can be affected that is, the concentration of air in the atmosphere can reduce drastically. The Contaminants in the air include carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide which can reduce the performance of the cell. Also ambient humidity and ambient temperature have impact on fuel cell performance. These factors can induce reversible or irreversible degradation in PEM fuel cells. The fabricated cell was in house tested and a peak power of 85 mW was obtained. The cell was fed with pure hydrogen and air. This paper proposes that the cell need to be tested for long term reliability and endurance tests in order to analyse the performance of the cell under varying climatic conditions.