Device and method for monitoring dryness of fuel cell stack

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9929419-B2
Application number	US-201514865205-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2015
Priority date	Dec 3, 2014
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A device and a method for monitoring dryness of a fuel cell stack can accurately determine whether the fuel cell stack is dry or not, to ensure smooth operation and performance of the fuel cell stack during operation of a fuel cell vehicle. The device includes a voltage sensing unit that monitors voltage of the fuel cell stack in real time; a current sensing unit that monitors current of the fuel cell stack in real time; a counting unit that compares the monitored voltage with a standard current-voltage performance curve; and a stack dryness determining unit that determines that the fuel cell stack is dry when a count determined by the counting unit is a standard level or more.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for monitoring dryness of a fuel cell stack, comprising:
a voltage sensing unit that monitors voltage of the fuel cell stack in real time;
a current sensing unit that monitors current of the fuel cell stack in real time;
a counting unit that counts to determine whether the monitored voltage for the same current is low or high by comparing the monitored voltage of the stack with a standard current-voltage performance curve; and
a stack dryness determining unit that determines that the fuel cell stack is dry when a count determined by the counting unit is a standard level or more,
wherein the counting unit increases or decreases the count by one, when the monitored voltage is lower or higher, respectively, than a voltage on the standard current-voltage performance curve, on the basis of a point where the monitored current and a current on the standard current-voltage performance curve are the same.

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a stack restoration control unit that performs restoration control for humidifying the stack when the fuel cell stack is determined as being dry.

3. A method of monitoring dryness of a fuel cell stack, comprising:
monitoring voltage of the fuel cell stack in real time;
monitoring current of the fuel cell stack in real time;
counting to determine whether the monitored voltage for the same current is low or high by comparing the monitored voltage of the stack with a standard current-voltage performance curve; and
determining that the fuel cell stack is dry when a count determined by the counting unit is a standard level or more,
wherein on the basis of a point where the monitored current and a current on the standard current-voltage performance curve are the same, when the monitored voltage is lower than a voltage on the standard current-voltage performance curve, the count is increased by one, and when the monitored voltage is higher than a voltage on the standard current-voltage performance curve, the count is decreased by one.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising performing restoration control for humidifying the stack when the fuel cell stack is determined as being dry.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the restoration control for humidifying the stack is achieved by one or more selected from increasing desired relative humidify of stack air, decreasing basic air flow for a stack, forcibly cooling a stack, and avoiding low output of a stack.

6. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions executed by a processor, the computer readable medium comprising:
program instructions that monitor voltage of a fuel cell stack in real time;
program instructions that monitor current of the fuel cell stack in real time;
program instructions that count to determine whether the monitored voltage for the same current is low or high by comparing the monitored voltage of the stack with a standard current-voltage performance curve; and
program instructions that determine that the fuel cell stack is dry when a count determined by the counting unit is a standard level or more,
wherein on the basis of a point where the monitored current and a current on the standard current-voltage performance curve are the same, when the monitored voltage is lower than a voltage on the standard current-voltage performance curve, the count is increased by one, and when the monitored voltage is higher than a voltage on the standard current-voltage performance curve, the count is decreased by one.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Cho Sung Mun

Classifications

• 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

• Y02T90/32

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01M2250/20

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

• H01M8/04492 Primary

  Humidity; Ambient humidity; Water content · CPC title

• H01M8/04559

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title