Structure for actual use (Highly durable stack)

Pursuit of durability to withstand ten years of use

For full-scale introduction of fuel cells into the market, it is important to ensure the durability of their functional components, such as the stack, fuel processing device, inverter, and circuits.

Among the components, the stack, which is an essential element of a fuel cell, already has a guaranteed durability of 23,000 hours in existing fuel cells. No changes in their power generation efficiency were identified in the large-scale field test.

Highly durable stack that withstands ten years of use

For the new fuel cell cogeneration system, we have identified the performance degradation factors of the MEA constituting a stack ("destruction of electrolyte membrane", "catalyst performance degradation", and "flooding due to the generated water") by conducting the performance degradation mechanism analysis. Based on the results, we have developed a highly durable stack that suppresses the reduction of power generation output from the aspects of the materials, design, and forecast evaluation.

The durability of the new fuel cell cogeneration system is equivalent to that of household equipment assuming a life of ten years or more by achieving a running time of 40,000 hours and 4,000 start/stop operations as a result of the adoption of the highly durable stack, detailed reviews of the system components, acceleration tests, and predictions based on simulations.