Pile à combustible

Swiss partners

• HES-SO, HEIA-FR: Moncef Justin Lalou (main applicant), Daniel Oberson

Partners in the MENA region

• Université Saint-Esprit de Kaslik, Liban: Bechara Nehme (main applicant), Tilda Karkour Akiki

Presentation of the project

Quiet and with zero CO₂ emissions, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) generate electricity from hydrogen with a higher efficiency than diesel or gas generators. The main area of application for PEMFCs is electric mobility, particularly freight transport, and the key challenges are improving efficiency and extending the service life, which currently stands at around 5,000 hours.

As part of the RPG 2023 (Research Partnership Grants) funding programme run by LHMENA (Leading House MENA – Middle East and North Africa), HEIA-FR and USEK (Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Lebanon) have joined forces on this project to develop a digital twin of the PEMFC, with the aim of facilitating and accelerating the evaluation of new control techniques and algorithms designed to improve the efficiency and service life of the PEMFC.

To this end, USEK contributed its expertise in the development of a numerical model of the PEMFC within the COMSOL Multiphysics development environment, whilst HEIA-FR contributed its experience in the experimental investigation of PEMFCs, and its laboratory infrastructure for the safe testing of hydrogen (H₂) systems (Figures 1 and 2 below), as well as its hardware and software to develop the PEMFC’s real-time operating system, including control algorithms, and to acquire measurements for the purpose of validating the PEMFC’s numerical model.