System and method for controlling fuel cell vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10249896-B2
Application number	US-201715645031-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2017
Priority date	Dec 10, 2016
Publication date	Apr 2, 2019
Grant date	Apr 2, 2019

Abstract

A method for controlling a fuel cell vehicle includes acquiring a state data, deriving a mathematical voltage model by substituting the acquired state data into a voltage calculation formula, measuring a voltage of a fuel cell, approximating a mathematical voltage model to a measurement voltage and deriving the reaction area data when the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage, and controlling the system of the fuel cell vehicle based on the derived reaction area data to eliminate or prevent an over-humidification situation of the fuel cell.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling a fuel cell vehicle, the method comprising:
acquiring state data that includes information related to a water content of a membrane electrode assembly, a cathode pressure, an anode pressure, a cooling water temperature, and a stack current;
deriving a mathematical voltage model by substituting the acquired state data into a voltage calculation formula;
measuring a voltage of a fuel cell;
approximating the mathematical voltage model to a measurement voltage by changing a reaction area data and deriving the reaction area data when the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage; and
controlling a system of the fuel cell vehicle based on the derived reaction area data to affect an over-humidification situation of the fuel cell.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the system of the fuel cell vehicle comprises controlling a system of the fuel cell vehicle based on the derived reaction area data to eliminate or prevent an over-humidification situation of the fuel cell.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the water content of the membrane electrode assembly is estimated from relative humidity at an air outlet of the fuel cell.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mathematical voltage model and the measurement voltage are a graph in which a current density is represented on an X axis and a cell voltage is represented on a Y axis.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the voltage calculation formula is a formula using a reaction area data as a parameter, and in the deriving of the mathematical voltage model, the mathematical voltage model is derived by substituting an initial value of the reaction area data and in the deriving of the reaction area data, the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage by substituting the reaction area data input to the voltage calculation formula while changing the reaction area data.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when a deviation between a plurality of cell voltages is equal to or greater than a reference level, the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the water content of the membrane electrode assembly to solve or prevent a drying state of the fuel cell.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein, when the deviation between the plurality of cell voltages is equal to or less than the reference level, the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the reaction area data to solve or prevent an over-humidification state of the fuel cell.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when a dispersion value between a plurality of cell voltages is equal to or less than a first reference level, the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the water content of the membrane electrode assembly to solve or prevent a drying state of the fuel cell.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein, when a cell voltage ratio obtained by dividing a minimum cell voltage by an average cell voltage is equal to or greater than a second reference value, the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled based on the water content of the membrane electrode assembly to solve or prevent a drying state of the fuel cell.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising approximating a mathematical voltage model to a measurement voltage by changing a catalyst supporting amount data and deriving the catalyst supporting amount data when the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage, wherein the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the derived catalyst supporting amount data.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein, when the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the derived reaction area data, a temperature, an air supply amount, or a hydrogen purge amount of the fuel cell is controlled and when the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the derived catalyst supporting amount data, a power distribution between a high voltage battery and the fuel cell of the vehicle is controlled.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising approximating a mathematical voltage model to a measurement voltage by changing an internal current density data and deriving the internal current density data when the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage, wherein the system of the fuel cell vehicle is controlled on the basis of the derived internal current density data.

13. A system for controlling a fuel cell vehicle, the system comprising:
a first sensor configured to measure a pressure of a cathode and an anode;
a second sensor configured to measure cooling water temperature;
a third sensor configured to measure a current of a fuel cell stack; and
a controller programmed to
acquire state data that includes information related to a water content of a membrane electrode assembly, a cathode pressure, an anode pressure, a cooling water temperature, and a stack current,
derive a mathematical voltage model by substituting the acquired state data into a voltage calculation formula,
measure a voltage of the fuel cell,
approximate a mathematical voltage model to a measurement voltage by changing a reaction area data,
derive the reaction area data when the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage, and
control the system of the fuel cell vehicle based on the derived reaction area data to affect an over-humidification situation of the fuel cell.

14. An apparatus comprising:
a fuel cell that includes an anode, a cathode and a membrane electrode assembly;
a hydrogen line, wherein the anode is connected to the hydrogen line;
an air line, wherein the cathode is connected to the air line;
a cooling line configured to circulate cooling water for the fuel cell;
a pressure sensor configured to measure a pressure of the anode and the cathode;
a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the cooling water in the cooling line;
a current sensor configured to measure a current of the fuel cell; and
a controller programmed to
acquire state data that includes information related to a water content of a membrane electrode assembly, a cathode pressure, an anode pressure, a cooling water temperature, and a stack current,
derive a mathematical voltage model by substituting the acquired state data into a voltage calculation formula,
measure a voltage of the fuel cell,
approximate a mathematical voltage model to a measurement voltage by changing a reaction area data,
derive the reaction area data when the mathematical voltage model approximates the measurement voltage, and
control the system of the fuel cell vehicle based on the derived reaction area data to affect an over-humidification situation of the fuel cell.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising a humidifier coupled in line with the air line.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising:
a supply valve coupled to the hydrogen line;
a pressure sensor coupled to the hydrogen line;
a humidifier coupled in line with the air line;
a compressor coupled to the air line; and
a pump coupled to the cooling line.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , further comprising an air outlet of the fuel cell, wherein the water content of the membrane electrode assembly is estimated from relative humidity at the air outlet.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Kwon Soon Woo
• Lee Joon Yong

Classifications

• H01M8/04388

  of anode reactants at the inlet or inside the fuel cell · CPC title

• H01M2250/20

  Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title

• H01M8/04358 Primary

  of the coolant · CPC title

• H01M8/04992 Primary

  characterised by the implementation of mathematical or computational algorithms, e.g. feedback control loops, fuzzy logic, neural networks or artificial intelligence · CPC title

• H01M8/04552

  of the individual fuel cell · CPC title