System and method for determining performance of fuel cell stack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12288906-B2
Application number	US-202217846559-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2022
Priority date	Jan 4, 2022
Publication date	Apr 29, 2025
Grant date	Apr 29, 2025

Abstract

A system for determining performance of a fuel cell stack may include a vehicle that collects a current of the fuel cell stack and a current of the fuel cell stack and a server that receives the voltage of the fuel cell stack and the current of the fuel cell stack from the vehicle in real time, determines an average state of health (SOH) of the fuel cell stack for each current section within an effective current range based on the current of the fuel cell stack and the voltage of the fuel cell stack within the effective current range, determines an overall average SOH in the effective current range based on the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section, and determines whether the fuel cell stack has failed based on the overall average SOH.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for determining performance of a fuel cell stack, the system comprising:
a vehicle configured to collect a voltage of the fuel cell stack and a current of the fuel cell stack; and
a server configured to receive the voltage of the fuel cell stack and the current of the fuel cell stack from the vehicle in real time, determine an average state of health (SOH) of the fuel cell stack for each current section within an effective current range based on the current of the fuel cell stack and the voltage of the fuel cell stack within the effective current range, determine an overall average SOH in the effective current range based on the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section, and determine whether the fuel cell stack has failed based on the overall average SOH,
wherein, when the current of the fuel cell stack received from the vehicle in real time is provided in the current section in effective current range, the server determines instantaneous SOH of the fuel cell based on the current value of the fuel cell stack.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to determine the instantaneous SOH based on a first state reference voltage corresponding to the current of the fuel cell stack within the effective current range, a second state reference voltage, and the voltage of the fuel cell stack.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the first state reference voltage refers to a reference voltage in a state in which the SOH of the fuel cell stack is 100%, and the second state reference voltage refers to a reference voltage in a state in which the SOH of the fuel cell stack is 0%.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the server is configured to accumulate the instantaneous SOH for each current section, and filter the accumulated instantaneous SOHs to extract a valid instantaneous SOH.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the server is configured to determine the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section based on the valid instantaneous SOHs when a number of the valid instantaneous SOHs exceeds a cumulative reference value.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the server is configured to determine the overall average SOH of the effective current range by applying a weight for each current section to the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to determine whether the overall average SOH is less than a degradation reference value.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the server is configured to count a number of times of degradation determination cumulatively when the overall average SOH is less than the degradation reference value.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the server is configured to determine whether the number of times of degradation determination exceeds a failure determination reference value.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the server is configured to generate a diagnostic trouble code and transmit the diagnostic trouble code to the vehicle when the number of times of degradation determination exceeds the failure determination reference value.

11. A method for determining performance of a fuel cell stack, the method comprising:
receiving, by a server, a voltage of the fuel cell stack and a current of the fuel cell stack from a vehicle;
determining, by the server, an average state of health (SOH) of the fuel cell stack for each current section within an effective current range based on the current of the fuel cell stack and the voltage of the fuel cell stack within the effective current range;
determining, by the server, an overall average SOH in the effective current range based on the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section;
determining, by the server, whether the fuel cell stack has failed based on the overall average SOH; and
determining, by the server, instantaneous SOH of the fuel cell based on the current value of the fuel cell stack, when the current of the fuel cell stack received from the vehicle in real time is provided in the current section in effective current range.

12. The method of claim 11 , further including:
determining, by the server, the instantaneous SOH based on a first state reference voltage corresponding to the current of the fuel cell stack within the effective current range, a second state reference voltage, and the voltage of the fuel cell stack.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first state reference voltage refers to a reference voltage in a state in which the SOH of the fuel cell stack is 100%, and the second state reference voltage refers to a reference voltage in a state in which the SOH of the fuel cell stack is 0%.

14. The method of claim 12 , further including:
accumulating, by the server, the instantaneous SOH for each current section; and
filtering, by the server, the accumulated instantaneous SOHs to extract a valid instantaneous SOH.

15. The method of claim 14 , further including:
determining, by the server, the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section based on the valid instantaneous SOHs when a number of the valid instantaneous SOHs exceeds a cumulative reference value.

16. The method of claim 15 , further including:
determining, by the server, the overall average SOH of the effective current range by applying a weight for each current section to the average SOH of the fuel cell stack for each current section.

17. The method of claim 11 , further including:
determining, by the server, whether the overall average SOH is less than a degradation reference value.

18. The method of claim 17 , further including:
counting, by the server, a number of times of degradation determination cumulatively when the overall average SOH is less than the degradation reference value.

19. The method of claim 18 , further including:
determining, by the server, whether the number of times of degradation determination exceeds a failure determination reference value.

20. The method of claim 19 , further including:
generating, by the server, a diagnostic trouble code and transmitting, by the server, the diagnostic trouble code to the vehicle when the number of times of degradation determination exceeds the failure determination reference value.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Corp

Inventors

• Kim Doo Hyun
• Park Hyo Jin
• Kim Dae Jong
• Kim Jong Gyun

Classifications

• H01M8/04559

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title

• H01M8/04589

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title

• H01M2250/20

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

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• Y02T90/40

  Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells · CPC title