METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DIAGNOSING DETERIORATION OF FUEL CELL

• US 20100286939A1
• Filed: 03/18/2010
• Published: 11/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: OH, Duk-jin, Sun, Hee-young
• Application Number:
  US12/726,637
• Publication Number:
  US 20100286939A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/65
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3842 combining voltage and current measurements
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/389 Measuring internal impedance, internal conductance or related variables
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/392 Determining battery ageing or deterioration, e.g. state of health
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04559 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04589 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04649 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04992 characterised by the implementation of mathematical or computational algorithms, e.g. feedback control loops, fuzzy logic, neural networks or artificial intelligence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells

Abstract

Provided are method and apparatus for diagnosing the deterioration of a fuel cell. The method includes: controlling a frequency of current drawn from the fuel cell; calculating an AC impedance of the fuel cell by using a pulse component of output current of the fuel cell that is generated by the control of the frequency; and diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell based on the calculated AC impedance.

Claims

1. A method of diagnosing the deterioration of a fuel cell, the method comprising:

controlling a frequency of a current drawn from the fuel cell;

calculating an AC impedance of the fuel cell by using a pulse component of a current output from the fuel cell in response to the controlling of the frequency; and

diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell based on the calculated AC impedance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the controlling comprises changing the frequency to a frequency range, and

the calculating comprises calculating the AC impedance of the fuel cell in the frequency range.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the calculating further comprises calculating the AC impedance of the fuel cell using a current value and a voltage value of the fuel cell measured at least one frequency in the frequency range.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the calculating is repeated at sampling intervals for a fixed period of time.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the controlling comprises controlling the frequency before driving a Power Conditioning System (PCS), which generates power to be supplied to a load, is driven, and

the diagnosing comprises comparing the calculated AC impedance with a threshold value used to diagnose the deterioration of the fuel cell in a no-load running condition and diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell based on a result of comparison.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the controlling comprises controlling the frequency is controlled before driving the Power Conditioning System (PCS), which generates power to be supplied to a load, and

the diagnosing comprises comparing the calculated AC impedance with a threshold value used to diagnose the deterioration of the fuel cell in a regular load running mode and diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell based on a result of comparison.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the controlling comprises controlling the frequency is controlled after driving the Power Conditioning System (PCS), which generates power to be supplied to a load, and

the diagnosing comprises comparing the calculated AC impedance with a threshold value used to diagnose the deterioration of the fuel cell in an arbitrary load running mode and diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell based on a result of comparison.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising stopping the operation of the fuel cell according to a result of diagnosis for the deterioration of the fuel cell.

9. A computer readable recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing a method of diagnosing the deterioration of a fuel cell performed by a computer, the method comprising:

controlling a frequency of a current drawn from the fuel cell;

calculating an AC impedance of the fuel cell by using a pulse component of a current output from the fuel cell that in response to the controlling of the frequency; and

diagnosing the deterioration of the fuel cell based on the calculated AC impedance.

10. An apparatus for diagnosing the deterioration of a fuel cell, the apparatus comprising:

a frequency controller which controls a frequency of a current drawn from the fuel cell;

an impedance calculation unit which calculates an AC impedance of the fuel cell using a pulse component of a current output from the fuel cell in response to the frequency controller controlling of the frequency; and

a state diagnosis unit which diagnoses the deterioration of the fuel cell based on the calculated AC impedance.

11. A fuel cell system comprising:

a fuel cell which generates power;

a controller which controls a frequency of a current drawn from the fuel cell and diagnoses the deterioration of the fuel cell using a pulse component of a current output from the fuel cell in response to the controlling of the frequency; and

a Power Conditioning System (PCS) which generates power to be supplied to a load from the power generated by the fuel cell.

12. The fuel cell system of claim 11, further comprising a converter which draws the current from the fuel cell according to the controlled frequency and converts a voltage of the drawn current.

13. The fuel cell system of claim 12, further comprising a Balance Of Plant (BOP) which operates the fuel cell, wherein the converter converts the voltage of the drawn current into a voltage required by the BOP.

14. The fuel cell system of claim 11, further comprising a heater which draws the current according to the controlled frequency and generates heat by using the drawn current.

15. The fuel cell system of claim 14, wherein the controller controls the frequency by controlling a switching frequency of a switch that is connected to the heater.