Method for managing the operation of a hybrid system

• US 8,889,276 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2012
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Belenos Clean Power Holding AG (The Swatch Group AG)
• Original Assignee: Belenos Clean Power Holding AG (The Swatch Group AG)
• Inventors: Bernard, Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruddock, Ula C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Park Gehrke, Lisa S
• Application Number:
  US13/483,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20120308850A1
• Time in Patent Office: 902 Days
• Field of Search: 429/9
• US Class Current: 429/9
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 16/003 of fuel cells with other electrochemical devices, e.g. capacitors, electrolysers
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04753 of fuel cell reactants
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04873 of the individual fuel cell
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 Fuel cells

Abstract

A method for managing the operation of a hybrid continuous current supply, said supply including a fuel cell stack a battery and a DC/DC converter including an input and an output, the converter input being connected to the output of the fuel cell stack and the output being connected to a variable load in parallel to the battery, the fuel cell stack being formed of a plurality of electrochemical cells adapted to produce electricity from a fuel and an oxidising gas.

Claims

1. A method for managing the operation of a hybrid continuous current supply, said supply comprising a fuel cell stack, a battery and a DC/DC converter including an input and an output, the converter input being connected to an output of the fuel cell stack and the converter output being connected to a variable load in parallel to the battery, the fuel cell stack being formed of a plurality of electrochemical cells adapted to produce electricity from a fuel and an oxidising gas, wherein said method includes the following operations

a) supplying a flow of fuel and a flow of oxidising gas to each of the electrochemical cells;

b) defining a set point representative of the variable load;

c) monitoring the fuel pressure and the oxidising gas pressure in the fuel cell stack

d) regulating the pressure in the fuel cell stack at a first reference value;

e) distributing the variable load between the fuel cell stack and the battery as a function of the set point, by varying the output voltage of the DC/DC converter;

f) monitoring a voltage representative of the voltage at the terminals of at least one of the electrochemical cells of the fuel cell stack;

g) monitoring the set point representative of the variable load;

if the voltage representative of the voltage at the terminals of at least one of the cells exceeds a first predetermined critical value and if the set point indicates a decrease in the variable load;

h) interrupting operation (d) and interrupting operation (e); and

i) regulating the voltage representative of the voltage at the terminals of at least one of the cells at a second reference value by adapting the input impedance of the DC/DC converter;

j) distributing the variable load between fuel cell stack and the battery by varying pressure.

2. The managing method according to claim 1, wherein the method further includes the operations of:

if the pressure in the fuel cell stack exceeds a second predetermined critical value and if the set point indicates an increase in the variable load;

k) interrupting operation (i) and interrupting operation (j) and repeating operation (d) and operation (e).

3. The management method according to claim 1, wherein the set point representative of the variable load is the difference between a third reference value and a measured battery voltage.

4. The management method according to claim 2, wherein the set point representative of the variable load is the difference between a third reference value and a measured battery voltage.

5. The management method according to claim 1, wherein the set point representative of the variable load is the difference between the power required by the variable load and the output power of the fuel cell stack.

6. The management method according to claim 2, wherein the set point representative of the variable load is the difference between the power required by the variable load and the output power of the fuel cell stack.

7. The management method according to claim 2, wherein the second critical value is 2.45 bar.

8. The management method according claim 4, wherein the second critical value is 2.45 bar.

9. The management method according to claim 6, wherein the second critical value is 2.45 bar.

10. The management method according to claim 1, wherein the first predetermined critical value is 0.845 volts.

11. The management method according to claim 1, wherein the second reference value is a value of 0.85 volts per cell.

12. The management method according to claim 1, wherein the first reference value is 2.5 bar.

13. The management method according to claim 1, wherein the fuel cell stack uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as oxidising gas.