Abstract
The limited lifetime of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) inhibits the further development of the fuel cell industry. Prediction is one of the most effective means for managing the lifetime of a fuel cell because it can assist in the implementation of mitigation actions before a vehicular fuel cell fails by estimating the residual lifetime. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a PEMFC lifetime prediction method for online applications. This paper presents the online prediction method developed for the residual lifetime of a vehicular fuel cell, which utilises data processing with an adaptive extended Kalman filter and a prediction formula. The formula considers different operating conditions and the external environment, which is in accord with the actual operating conditions of fuel cell vehicles. This method realises the online prediction of the residual lifetime of a vehicular fuel cell by updating weight coefficients for the operating conditions and environmental factors. This prediction method was validated and analysed using a simulation. The influences of key parameters on the stability and prediction accuracy of the algorithm were evaluated. The prediction method proposed in this paper can provide a reference for studies on fuel cell lifetime prediction.