COD control method and system for fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10964965-B2
Application number	US-201815985163-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 21, 2018
Priority date	Nov 24, 2017
Publication date	Mar 30, 2021
Grant date	Mar 30, 2021

Abstract

A cathode oxygen depletion (COD) control method is provided. The method includes determining whether a COD heater operates and calculating power generation and power consumption when the COD heater operates. Additionally, the power consumption is adjusted by comparing the calculated power generation and power consumption.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cathode oxygen depletion (COD) control method for a fuel cell to prevent energy consumption of a battery when a COD heater operates during regenerative braking, comprising:
detecting, by a controller, a charge amount of the battery, wherein the COD heater is operated when the charge amount of the battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined charge amount, and the COD heater is turned off when the regenerative braking is insufficient or when the charge amount of the battery reduces to below the predetermined charge amount;
determining, by the controller, that the COD heater operates;
in response to determining that the COD heater operates, calculating, by the controller, power generation and power consumption, wherein the power generation is calculated by including power recovered by the regenerative braking and the power consumption is calculated by including power consumed by the COD heater, a coolant pump, and a heat dissipation fan cooling a radiator; and
adjusting, by the controller, the power consumption by comparing the calculated power generation and power consumption, wherein a rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan cooling the radiator is adjusted based on a difference between the calculated power consumption and power generation,
wherein the rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan is increased when the power assumption is equal to or less than the power generation, and the rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan is decreased when the power consumption exceeds the power generation.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
prior to determining whether the COD heater operates, determining, by the controller, whether a vehicle having the COD heater is in a regenerative braking state,
wherein the COD heater is operated when the vehicle is in the regenerative braking state.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan is variably adjusted using a prestored map.

4. A cathode oxygen depletion (COD) control method for a fuel cell to prevent energy consumption of a battery when a COD heater operates during regenerative braking, comprising:
detecting, by a controller, a charge amount of the battery, wherein the COD heater is operated when the charge amount of the battery is equal to or greater than a predetermined charge amount, and the COD heater is turned off when the regenerative breaking is insufficient or when the charge amount of the battery reduces to below the predetermined charge amount,
determining, by the controller, that the COD heater operates;
in response to determining that the COD heater operates, calculating, by the controller, power generation and power consumption, wherein the power generation is calculated by including power consumed by the COD heater, a coolant pump, and a heat dissipation fan cooling a radiator; and
adjusting, by the controller, the power consumption by comparing the calculated power generational and power consumption, wherein a rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan cooling the radiator is adjusted based on a difference between the calculated power consumption and power generation,
wherein a voltage applied to the COD heater is variably adjusted when the rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan becomes a predetermined maximum value or minimum value.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the voltage applied to the COD heater is variably adjusted using a prestored map based on the difference between the calculated power consumption and power generation.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the voltage applied to the COD heater is increased when the rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan becomes the predetermined maximum value, and the voltage applied to the COD heater is decreased when the rotation speed of the coolant pump or the heat dissipation fan becomes the predetermined minimum value.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein a bidirectional direct current-direct current (DC-DC) converter of a main bus terminal connected to a fuel cell stack is operated to change the voltage applied to the COD heater.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Park Jeong Kyu
• Ye Chang Hwan
• Park Gun Hyung
• Seung Sae Byeok
• Yeom Sang Chul
• Lee Seung Yoon

Classifications

• H02J7/865

  Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply (H02J7/50 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M8/04992

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

• H01M8/04925 Primary

  Power, energy, capacity or load · CPC title

• H01M8/04888

  of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors · CPC title

• H01M8/04768

  of the coolant · CPC title