Development and preliminary testing of a unitized regenerative fuel cell based on PEM technology

Results related to the development and testing of a unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC) based on proton-exchange membrane (PEM) technology are reported. A URFC is an electrochemical device which can operate either as an electrolyser for the production of hydrogen and oxygen (water electrolysis mode) or as a H2/O2 fuel cell for the production of electricity and heat (fuel cell mode). The URFC stack described in this paper is made of seven electrochemical cells (256 cм2 active area each). The nominal electric power consumption in electrolysis mode is of 1.5 kW and the nominal electric power production in fuel cell mode is 0.5 kW. A mean cell voltage of 1.74 V has been measured during water electrolysis at 0.5 A cm−2 (85% efficiency based on the thermoneutral voltage of the water splitting reaction) and a mean cell voltage of 0.55 V has been measured during fuel cell operation at the same current density (37% electric efficiency based on the thermoneutral voltage). Preliminary stability tests are satisfactory. Further tests are scheduled to assess the potentialities of the stack on the long term.