Direct methanol fuel cell systems for backup power - Influence of the standby procedure on the lifetime

In spite of reduced sensor systems the efficient and secure operation of the system must be guaranteed. The demanded durability in case of UPS is ten years in discontinuous operation. To achieve the long term stability the right treatment of the stack during standby was identified by tests on single cells as well as on short stacks. A number of different standby procedures have been tested in order to identify how the MEAs must be treated in order to avoid premature degradation during standby.