System-level Risk Analysis of PEM Fuel Cell Using Failure Mode and Effect Analysis

Renewable energy generations are rapidly growing in the power sector industry, one of which is widely known as the fuel cells. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are being developed popularly with several important application areas, such as transportation, stationary and portable energy. As one of its applications, the PEMFC is implemented as a backup power for the telecommunication power supply. Aiming for emergency conditions, the analysis of its failure, cause, and risk on the system is therefore vital. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is a significant and important approach in risk and reliability analysis, in order to identify, classify the potential failures. In this paper, with the help of this method, important failure causes and effects in the system is investigated, and the risk analysis of the PEMFC system is thereby estimated. The results show that the highest Risk Priority Number (RPN) of the PEMFC system is sub-system of the fuel cell stack, where the excessive heat can be found as a critical failure cause.