ENDURANCE stands for ENhanced DURability materials for Advanced stacks of New solid oxide fuel CElls.
ENDURANCE aims to develop reliable predictive models to estimate long-term (20 thousand hours and more) performance and probability of failure of solid oxide fuel cell stacks based on existing materials.
ENDURANCE is original because it proposes to detect the earliest signals of fuel cell stack failure and actually "heal" it before happening through Early Warning Output Signals triggered counterstrategies.
ENDURANCE is beneficial because it will allow for the production of solid oxide fuel cell stacks with extended lifetime and reduced maintenance costs using existing materials.
ENDURANCE is a Seventh Framework Programme project under the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. It stands for "ENhanced DURability materials for Advanced stacks of New solid oxide fuel CElls".
ENDURANCE aims at developing reliable predictive models to estimate long-term (i.e. > 20 kh) performance and probability of failure of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks based on existing materials. This will allow the realization of stacks with extended service intervals and reduced maintenance cost with respect to the present stack technology. The extension of service life will be supported by the introduction of Early Warning Output Signals triggered counterstrategies.
The fuel cell stack has to be observed and understood as a complex system of components all interacting within each other and not as an association of single standalone components. This is the greatest challenge in the ENDURANCE project, since it is of vital importance to the creation of a powerful predictive model for SOFC stack operation.