The DOE has set the ultimate goals for the lifespan of the fuel cell system under realistic operating conditions, of 8,000 hours for light vehicles, 30,000 hours for heavy trucks and 80,000 hours for distributed energy systems. Even with 30,000 operating hours, such a fuel cell is unlikely to last the entire life of the chassis. With 45 hours of operation per week, that would be an extrapolation of 666 weeks or a little over 13 years. As people move toward cleaner transportation, hydrogen fuel cells are gaining popularity for automotive applications.
However, technology has traditionally been hampered by problems related to the cost and longevity of components, which have prevented it from gaining a firm foothold in the automotive industry. Please wait a moment and try again. For example, there are areas in Europe where a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle seems more attractive from the point of view of its carbon footprint because the region has high-carbon electricity. As far as I can tell, platinum is used (almost) everywhere as a catalyst and, as far as I can determine, it seems to corrode a bit during use, especially in terms of splitting oxygen in the fuel cell.
If you're a fuel supplier, you'll need to ensure that there will be demand for hydrogen vehicles before putting the infrastructure in place. The first stage of the fuel cell uses a catalyst, such as platinum, to split hydrogen (H) gas into atomic hydrogen. However, this system can be composed of, for example, a reversible fuel cell or a non-reversible fuel cell combined with a dedicated electrolysis machine (if there is a difference in lifespan). I believe that there will be more success stories to come and, if you are a provider of fuel cell technology, it is important to understand the factors that drive the market, such as legislation, policies, competition and technology development.
Both battery-powered and fuel cell electric vehicles are classified as “zero-emission vehicles” because they produce zero emissions at the point of use. In the case of a vehicle with a hydrogen fuel cell, the increase in integrated GHG emissions is due to the integrated hydrogen storage system, which is usually a 350 or 700 bar compressed gas tank, wrapped in carbon fiber. Hydrogen fuel cells already have some successful markets, such as forklifts in North America and combined heating and power units in Japan. Vehicle fuel cell tests have yielded a lifespan of 7,500 hours (presumably due to several years of practical use), although they appear to need more maintenance than diesel engines.
There is a lot of debate about the use of hydrogen for commercial vehicles and hydrogen already has a long history with buses being tested in Europe.
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