​Liten recently added a new test bench for 10 kW to 100 kW stacks to its low-temperature fuel cell testing platform to respond to growing demand from industrial R&D partners. The new equipment is the latest addition to a very complete range of around 30 test benches dedicated to the activation and detailed characterization of fuel cells and will position the platform to cover a wider range of power ratings.

The new test bench, commissioned this summer, manages the gas supply and is equipped with an anode recycling loop that reinjects excess hydrogen into the fuel cell. It also has an electrical dissipation system that reinjects power into the electrical supply network and a cooling loop to absorb energy produced by the fuel cells being tested.

Finally, the equipment can be used for fuel cell packaging and electrochemical characterization, generating polarization curves and impedance measurements, for example—useful in monitoring individual cells' activity, aging, and degradation.

Tests on stacks up to 30 kW were completed successfully, and the new test bench will soon be available to Liten's industrial R&D partners for the validation of stacks up to 100 kW for mobility applications. The test bench was purchased with funds from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional government. It is the only equipment of its kind in France and will be available to companies from all industries for the activation and characterization of their fuel cells from 10 kW to 100 kW.