Flaw detection method and apparatus for fuel cell components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9784625-B2
Application number	US-201313859829-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 10, 2013
Priority date	Nov 30, 2010
Publication date	Oct 10, 2017
Grant date	Oct 10, 2017

Abstract

Various embodiments provide systems and methods for detecting defects in components of a fuel cell. Embodiment methods and systems for detecting a defect in an interconnect for a fuel cell system include thermally exciting the interconnect using optical radiation and/or inductive stimulation, detecting a thermal response of the interconnect, and based on the thermal response, determining the presence or absence of a defect in the interconnect, such as a lateral or through crack in the interconnect.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for detecting a defect in an interconnect for a solid oxide fuel cell system, comprising:
providing a thermal excitation at the interconnect;
detecting changes in temperature over time of regions of the interconnect;
based on the detected changes in temperature, determining a presence or absence of a defect in the interconnect, and
based on the detected changes in temperature, determining a thickness of a protective coating on the interconnect,
wherein the protective coating comprises at least one of a lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) coating and a manganese cobalt oxide spinel coating.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a thermal excitation comprises:
directing optical radiation at the interconnect.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a thermal excitation comprises:
inductively stimulating the interconnect.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the defect comprises a lateral crack.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the defect comprises a through crack.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a thermal excitation comprises directing modulated optical radiation at a first surface of the interconnect, and detecting a defect comprises detecting a lateral crack based on the thermal response from the optical radiation excitation using IR lock-in thermography.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising directing optical radiation at a second surface of the interconnect, opposite the first surface, and detecting lateral cracks based on a thermal response from the optical radiation excitation of the second surface of the interconnect.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a thermal excitation comprises inductively stimulating the interconnect using non-modulated inductive stimulation, and detecting a defect comprises detecting a through crack based on the thermal response from the inductive stimulation.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing a thermal excitation comprises:
providing a first thermal excitation by directing optical radiation at a surface of the interconnect; and
providing a second thermal excitation by inductively stimulating the interconnect, and
wherein detecting a defect comprises detecting a lateral crack based change in temperature from the first thermal excitation and detecting a through crack based change in temperature from the second thermal excitation.

10. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of directing the optical radiation comprises using a lamp to irradiate the interconnect with at least one of ultraviolet, visible or infrared radiation.

11. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of directing the optical radiation comprises using at least one of a flashlamp, a halogen lamp, an LED and a laser source to irradiate the interconnect with at least one of ultraviolet, visible or infrared radiation.

12. The method of claim 3 , wherein the step of inductively stimulating the interconnect comprises energizing an inductive coil proximate to the interconnect.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting changes in temperature comprises using an infrared camera to detect infrared radiation from the interconnect.

14. A method for determining a thickness of a protective coating of an interconnect of a solid oxide fuel cell system, comprising:
providing a thermal excitation at the interconnect;
detecting changes in temperature over time of regions of the interconnect; and
determining a thickness of the protective coating based on the detected changes in temperature,
wherein the protective coating comprises at least one of a lanthanum strontium manganite (LSM) coating and a manganese cobalt oxide spinel coating.

15. A method for determining a thickness of a layered component of a solid oxide fuel cell system, the method comprising:
providing a thermal excitation at the layered component;
detecting changes in temperature over time of one or more regions of the layered component; and
determining a thickness of the layered component based on the detected changes in temperature;
wherein the layered component comprises an electrolyte material having at least one of an anode electrode and a cathode electrode over a surface of the electrolyte material, and
wherein the determining a thickness comprises determining a thickness of at least one of the anode electrode and the cathode electrode.

Assignees

• Bloom Energy Corp

Inventors

• Couse Stephen
• Akin Tulin

Classifications

• H01M2008/1293

  Fuel cells with solid oxide electrolytes · CPC title

• H01M8/04671

  of the individual fuel cell · CPC title

• H01M8/04664

  Failure or abnormal function · CPC title

• H01M8/0202

  Collectors; Separators, e.g. bipolar separators; Interconnectors · CPC title

• G01N2291/2697

  Wafer or (micro)electronic parts · CPC title