Technique to regulate an efficiency of a fuel cell system

• US 6,650,968 B2
• Filed: 12/27/2000
• Issued: 11/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Plug Power Inc.
• Original Assignee: Plug Power Inc.
• Inventors: Ballantine, Arne, Graham, Richard J., Kueckels, Eric, Solodow, Adam, Torpey, Mark, Comi, Chris, Hallum, Ryan
• Primary Examiner(s): Paladini, Albert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SWINDELL, WALTER R
• Application Number:
  US09/749,298
• Publication Number:
  US 20020081466A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,056 Days
• Field of Search: 700/90-291, 429/12-46, 324/434
• US Class Current: 700/286
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04089 of gaseous reactants
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04552 of the individual fuel cell
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04559 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04753 of fuel cell reactants
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04776 at auxiliary devices, e.g. reformer, compressor, burner
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04873 of the individual fuel cell
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/0488 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: H01M 8/0612 from carbon-containing material
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells

Abstract

A technique that is usable with a fuel cell stack includes providing a fuel flow to the stack, changing the fuel flow and observing a response of at least one cell voltage of the stack to the change in the fuel flow. An efficiency of the stack is regulated based on the observation.

Claims

1. An article comprising a computer readable storage medium storing instructions to cause a computer to:

interact with a fuel processor to change a rate at which the fuel processor is providing fuel to a fuel cell stack;

observe a response of at least one cell voltage of the stack to the changing of the rate; and

control the fuel processor to regulate an efficiency of the stack based on the observation.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the storage medium stores instructions to cause the computer to decrease the rate by a predetermined amount.

3. The article of claim 1, wherein the storage medium stores instructions to cause the computer to use a cell voltage monitoring circuit to measure said at least one cell voltage.

4. The article of claim 1, wherein the storage medium stores instructions to cause the computer to determine if one of the said at least one cell voltage is below a predetermined cell voltage threshold and base the regulation of the efficiency of the stack on the determination.

5. The article of claim 1, wherein the storage medium stores instructions to cause the computer to determine if a predetermined number of said at least one cell voltage is below a predetermined cell voltage threshold and base the regulation of the efficiency of the stack on the determination.

6. The article of claim 1, wherein the storage medium stores instructions to cause the computer to determine a standard deviation of said at least one cell voltage and base the regulation of the efficiency on the determination.

7. An article comprising a computer readable storage medium storing instructions to cause a processor to:

select a group of one or more fuel cells of a fuel cell stack;

monitor one or more cell voltages of the group;

determine from said one or more cell voltages whether the fuel cell stack is failing to consume substantially all of a fuel flow that is being provided to the stack; and

adjust the fuel flow until said one or more cell voltages indicate that the fuel cell stack is consuming substantially all of the fuel flow that is being provided to the stack.

8. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to decrease fuel flow to the stack until said one or more cell voltages indicate that the fuel cell stack is consuming substantially all of the fuel flow that is being provided to the stack.

9. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to decrease the fuel flow that is being provided to the stack until said one or more cell voltages indicate that the fuel cell stack is being deprived of fuel.

10. The article of claim 9, the storing medium storing instructions to cause the processor to subsequently increase the fuel flow that is being provided to the fuel cell stack until said one or more cell voltages indicate that the fuel cell stack is consuming substantially all of the fuel flow.

11. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to determine whether said one or more cell voltages indicate that the fuel cell stack is consuming substantially all of the fuel flow by determining if at least one voltage of said one or more cell voltages decreases below a predetermined cell voltage threshold.

12. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to determine whether said one or more cell voltages indicate that the fuel cell stack is consuming substantially all of the fuel flow by determining if at least a predetermined number of said one or more cell voltages decrease below a predetermined cell voltage threshold.

13. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to determine whether the fuel cell stack is failing to consume substantially all of the fuel flow by determining a standard deviation among said one or more cell voltages.

14. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to adjust the fuel flow by predetermined increments.

15. The article of claim 7, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to interact with a cell voltage monitoring circuit to monitor said one or more said voltages.

16. An article comprising a computer readable storage medium storing instructions to cause a processor to:

select a group of one or more fuel cells of a fuel cell stack;

monitor one or more cell voltages of the group;

determine from said one or more cell voltages whether at least one of said one or more cell voltages is approximately equal to a predetermined cell threshold voltage; and

adjust a fuel flow to the fuel cell stack until at least one of said one or more cell voltages is approximately equal to the predetermined cell threshold voltage.

17. The article of claim 16, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to decrease the fuel flow until at least one of said one or more said voltages is less than the predetermined cell threshold voltage.

18. The article of claim 16, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to decrease the fuel flow until at least one of said one or more cell voltages is approximately equal to the predetermined cell threshold voltage.

19. The article of claim 16, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to increase a fuel flow to the fuel cell stack in response to said at least one of said one or more cell voltages being below the predetermined cell threshold voltage.

20. An article comprising a computer readable storage medium storing instructions to cause a processor to:

select a group of one or more fuel cells of a fuel cell stack;

monitor one or more cell voltages of the group;

determine from said one or more cell voltages a standard deviation of said one or more cell voltages; and

adjust a fuel flow to the fuel cell stack until the standard deviation is approximately equal to the predetermined standard deviation threshold.

21. The article of claim 20, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to decrease the fuel flow in response to the standard deviation being approximately equal to the predetermined standard deviation threshold.

22. The article of claim 20, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to decrease the fuel flow in response to the standard deviation being below the predetermined standard deviation threshold.

23. The article of claim 20, the storage medium storing instructions to cause the processor to increase the fuel flow in response to the standard deviation being below the predetermined standard deviation threshold.