The University of Genoa hosts the HI-SEA (Hydrogen Initiative for Sustainable Energy Applications) joint laboratory with Fincantieri, to study the best design of a 240 kW PEMFC system for shipping. It is made up of 8 stacks (by Nuvera Fuel Cells) with BoP that come from a previous national project; stacks were left inactive for more than 2 years before being installed in the HI- SEA container. Inactivity leads to severe issues linked to the membrane’s water content, and for this reason during the study we focused on developing a performant recovery procedure for the stacks, based on thermal and humidity management. The implementation of the procedure will be described, showing its successful implementation. The 8 stacks were recovered, and their performance was restored, in comparison with polarization curves from factory tests and from the experimental campaign.
