FITUP - Public Report on Test Results: Fuel Cell Field Test Demonstration of Economic and Environmental Viability for Portable Generators, Backup and UPS Power System Applications

A total of 19 market-ready fuel cell systems from two suppliers, Electro Power Systems and Future-E, have been installed as backup power sources in selected sites across Europe. Customers from the telecommunications industry and public safety departments in Italy, Switzerland and Turkey tested these fuel cell-based systems in real life conditions, with power levels in the 3-12 kW range. The goal of the project is to demonstrate a level of technical performance (start-up time, reliability, durability, number of cycles) that qualifies them for market entry, thereby accelerating the commercialization of this technology in Europe and elsewhere.FITUP project has involved testing systems from both fuel cell suppliers at real life-conditions and laboratory benchmarking tests according to a test protocol developed in the scope of the project. The performance and availability data have been logged and analysed to draw conclusions regarding commercial viability and degree to which they meet customer requirements, as well as suggesting areas for improvement. The reliability of the systems is the fundamental requirement of the end users for backup solutions. The fuel cell systems and the gas supply infrastructure were stressed hardly with the numerous testing cycles. A total of 6070 cycles have been tested in on-field tests of 13 systems corresponding to 1941 hours of testing. The systems responded to 6023 of these grid failure simulations successfully making the average reliability of 99.2% which is well above the project goal of 95%. Individual system reliability has differed from 96.6% to 100% which assures each of tested systems has surpassed the projected goals individually. When the failures are analyzed for each system, it is found that many of the failures are due to minor parts in the system like pressure regulator or valves. These can be avoided easily by using alternative products and optimizing the products. On-field installations in Switzerland with compressed hydrogen cylinders reached with more than 4000 cycles and over 1000 hours of operation time the fully target of testing. Average reliability of the systems tested in Swiss sites has been found to be 99.4% which is higher than systems in Italy and Turkey that are equipped with electrolyzers. The system producers used the results of the tests to obtain valuable first hand feedback from customers and optimized their systems as needed in the course of the project. On the other hand, final users participated in the project have had the chance for first-hand experience of the use of fuel cells to be used in their applications.+ ID der Publikation: hslu_73820 + Art des Beitrages: Bericht + Sprache: Englisch + Letzte Aktualisierung: 2022-09-13 14:56:3