Energy and Power Engineering, 2019, 11, 303-319 http://www.scirp.org/journal/epe ISSN Online: 1947-3818 ISSN Print: 1949-243X DOI: 10.4236/epe.2019.118019 Aug. 16, 2019 303 Energy and Power Engineering A Reliability-Based Strategy for the Analysis of Single Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Patricia da Silva Pagetti de Oliveira * , Vinicius Andrea, Elisabete Inacio Santiago, Thiago Lopes, Delvonei Alves de Andrade, Marcelo Linardi Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, IPEN-CNEN/SP, São Paulo, Brazil Abstract The development of power conversion systems based on fuel cells has been demanding reliability studies since the requirements associated with cost and durability of these technological products have become fundamental to their acceptance by the energy market. The experimental part of the reliability study presented in this work consisted of performing life tests with single proton ex- change membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The proposed reliability analysis me- thodology covered the application of qualitative and quantitative techniques. In the qualitative approach, a Failure Mode and Effect Analysis was developed in order to identify and evaluate all potential failures associated with the opera- tion of fuel cells. In the quantitative approach, a statistical analysis was ap- plied to the sample data generated in long-term steady-state tests of these de- vices. A two-parameter exponential distribution was fitted to data and the maximum likelihood estimate for the mean time to failure (MTTF) of the fuel cells was calculated. It is important to point out that the tests per- formed under the scope of this study were the first long-term experiments performed with the fuel cells produced in the laboratories of IPEN-CNEN/SP, Brazil. Although the results indicated that fuel cell performance and durabili- ty were still at a level below the targets normally established for similar com- mercial devices, the improvement of the main components of PEMFCs has been the objective of several projects developed at the institute. Thus, the main benefit brought by this study is the proposed methodology, which can be implemented as part of a reliability growth analysis of the fuel cells and can be integrated into the design process of these devices. Keywords Fuel Cells, Reliability, Durability, Performance, Life Tests, Lifetime, Failure-Time How to cite this paper: Oliveira, P.S.P., Andrea, V., Santiago, E.I., Lopes, T., An- drade, D.A. and Linardi, M. (2019) A Re- liability-Based Strategy for the Analysis of Single Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. Energy and Power Engineering, 11, 303-319. https://doi.org/10.4236/epe.2019.118019 Received: May 7, 2019 Accepted: August 13, 2019 Published: August 16, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial International License (CC BY-NC 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Open Access