Novel VHT-PEFC MEAs Based on ABPBI Membranes for APU Applications

Abstract

The performance of poly(2,5-benzimidazole) (ab-PBI or ABPBI; 'AB' reflects the fact that the polybenzimidazole is formed in head-tail variety) membrane based membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for use as very high temperature PEFCs (T = 160 - 180 {degree sign}C) is reported here. In view of the possible future application of this special type of fuel cell - e.g. in auxiliary power units (APU) in trucks or airplanes - these MEAs have been tested with a six-component gas mixture simulating the composition of a fuel gas produced by autothermal reforming of middle distillates such as diesel or kerosene after the shift reaction. The cell performances with hydrogen and synthetic reformate at different operating temperatures of the fuel cell and thus their 'CO tolerances' are presented and discussed. MEAs with an active area of 46 cm2 have been operated successfully in a prototype 10-cell stack with novel modular design.