Diagnosis systems and methods for fuel cell assemblies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025030020-A1
Application number	US-202418731811-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 3, 2024
Priority date	Jul 18, 2023
Publication date	Jan 23, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A fuel cell assembly is provided, including a fuel cell stack having a fuel cell, the fuel cell having a cathode and an anode; and a multi-gas sensor configured to sense gas composition data of a flow of output products from the cathode, gas composition data of a flow of output products from the anode, gas composition data of a fluid surrounding the fuel cell, or a combination thereof to determine fuel cell leakage diagnostic information.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A fuel cell assembly comprising:
a fuel cell stack comprising a fuel cell, the fuel cell comprising a cathode and an anode; and a multi-gas sensor configured to sense gas composition data of a flow of output products from the cathode, gas composition data of a flow of output products from the anode, gas composition data of a fluid surrounding the fuel cell, or a combination thereof to determine fuel cell leakage diagnostic information.

2 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 1 , wherein the multi-gas sensor provides real-time, in situ sensing data with more than one electrical output, and wherein the gas composition data comprises gas composition data of more than one gas.

3 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 1 , wherein the gas sensor is configured to detect a crossover leakage by sensing gas composition data of the flow of output products from the anode.

4 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 3 , wherein the gas composition data comprises a percentage of N 2 in the flow of output products from the anode, and wherein the fuel cell assembly is further configured to sense data indicative of a flowrate of the output products from the anode.

5 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 4 , wherein the fuel cell leakage diagnostic information indicates a cathode to anode crossover leakage determined in response to the percentage of N 2 within the flow of output products from the anode increasing, a flowrate of the flow of output products from the anode increasing, or both.

6 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 1 , wherein the gas sensor is configured to sense gas composition data of the flow of output products from the cathode.

7 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 6 , wherein the gas composition data comprises a percentage of CO 2 in the flow of output products from the cathode and a percentage of H 2 O in the output products from the cathode, and wherein the fuel cell assembly is further configured to sense data indicative of a flowrate of the flow of output products from the cathode.

8 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 7 , wherein the fuel cell leakage diagnostic information indicates an anode to cathode crossover leakage determined in response to the percentage of CO 2 within the flow of output products from the cathode increasing, the percentage of H 2 O within the flow of output products from the cathode increasing, a flowrate of the flow of output products from the cathode increasing, or a combination thereof.

9 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 8 , wherein the gas sensor is further configured to sense gas composition data of the fluid surrounding the fuel cell.

10 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 9 , wherein the gas composition data comprises a percentage of O 2 in the fluid surrounding the fuel cell.

11 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 10 , wherein the fuel cell leakage diagnostic information indicates an anode overboard leakage determined in response to the percentage of O 2 in the fluid surrounding the fuel cell decreasing and the percentage of O 2 in the fluid surrounding the fuel cell being less than a percentage of O 2 in the flow of output products from the cathode.

12 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 10 , wherein the fuel cell leakage diagnostic information indicates a cathode overboard leakage determined in response to the percentage of O 2 in the fluid surrounding the fuel cell decreasing and the percentage of O 2 in the fluid surrounding the fuel cell being greater than a percentage of O 2 in the flow of output products from the cathode.

13 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 8 , wherein the gas sensor is further configured to sense gas composition data of the flow of output products from the anode.

14 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 13 , wherein the gas sensor is a single gas sensor.

15 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 13 , wherein the gas sensor comprises a first gas sensor configured to sense gas composition data of the flow of output products from the cathode and a second gas sensor configured to sense gas composition data of the flow of output products from the anode.

16 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fuel cell assembly further comprises an enclosure at least partially enclosing the fuel cell stack, and wherein the gas sensor is positioned outside the enclosure.

17 . The fuel cell assembly of claim 1 , wherein the fuel cell assembly is part of a propulsion system for an aircraft, wherein the propulsion system further comprises a gas turbine engine comprising a combustion section having a combustor, and wherein the fuel cell is configured to provide the flow of output products from the anode and from the cathode to the combustor.

18 . A method of detecting a leak in a fuel cell of a fuel cell assembly of a propulsion system, the fuel cell comprising a cathode and an anode, the method comprising:
receiving from a gas sensor gas composition data of a flow of output products from the cathode, gas composition data of a flow of output products from the anode, gas composition data of a fluid surrounding the fuel cell, or a combination thereof; and determining fuel cell leakage diagnostic information in response to the received gas composition data.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein receiving the gas composition data comprises receiving data at a resolution of 1 minute or less.

20 . A propulsion system comprising:
a propulsor; and a fuel cell assembly operable with the propulsor, the fuel cell assembly comprising:
a fuel cell stack comprising a fuel cell, the fuel cell comprising a cathode and an anode; and
a gas sensor configured to sense gas composition data of a flow of output products from the cathode, gas composition data of a flow of output products from the anode, gas composition data of a fluid surrounding the fuel cell, or a combination thereof to determine fuel cell leakage diagnostic information.

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Wang Honggang
• Potyrailo Radislav A
• Benjamin Michael Anthony
• Kong Xiangdong

Classifications

• H01M8/04492

  Humidity; Ambient humidity; Water content · CPC title

• H01M8/0447

  of cathode exhausts · CPC title

• H01M8/04462

  of anode exhausts · CPC title

• H01M8/04313

  characterised by the detection or assessment of variables; characterised by the detection or assessment of failure or abnormal function · CPC title

• H01M8/04679 Primary

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title