System and method for the recovery of fuel cell catalyst performance
First Claim
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1. A system for recovering catalyst performance of a fuel cell in a vehicle, the system comprising:
- a sensor located in the vehicle that detects a fuel cell parameter during use of the vehicle throughout a first life cycle of the fuel cell, during which cell potential is cycled due at least to vehicle starting and stopping;
a fuel gas supply configured to supply fuel gas to an anode side of the fuel cell during a recovery process;
an oxidant supply configured to supply oxidant to a cathode side of the fuel cell during the recovery process; and
a recovery controller with a memory located in the vehicle and programmed to;
determine an end of life state of the fuel cell in the vehicle based on a signal from the sensor and preprogrammed end of life criteria;
notify with a notification device when the end of life state of the fuel cell is determined;
control a continuous feed of the fuel gas supplied only to the anode side and a continuous feed of the oxidant supplied only to the cathode side;
control continuous operation of the fuel cell in a steady-state by controlling a steady-state load generator to draw a steady current throughout the recovery process without cycling, thereby removing oxides from a catalyst surface to recover the catalyst performance of the fuel cell;
determine a recovery state of the fuel cell based on a recovery parameter and preprogrammed recovery criteria, the recovery state indicating that the catalyst performance has been recovered; and
allow operation of the fuel cell in the steady-state to cease when the recovery is detected.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are systems and methods for recovering performance of fuel cells by recovering fuel cell catalyst activity. One system for recovering catalyst performance of a fuel cell stack made of one or more fuel cells in a vehicle comprises a sensor for detecting an EOL state of the fuel cell. A notification device notifies a user when the sensor detects the EOL state of the fuel cell. Means for drawing a steady-state load from the fuel cell stack is used to operate the fuel cell stack until the catalyst performance is recovered.
8 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A system for recovering catalyst performance of a fuel cell in a vehicle, the system comprising:
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a sensor located in the vehicle that detects a fuel cell parameter during use of the vehicle throughout a first life cycle of the fuel cell, during which cell potential is cycled due at least to vehicle starting and stopping; a fuel gas supply configured to supply fuel gas to an anode side of the fuel cell during a recovery process; an oxidant supply configured to supply oxidant to a cathode side of the fuel cell during the recovery process; and a recovery controller with a memory located in the vehicle and programmed to; determine an end of life state of the fuel cell in the vehicle based on a signal from the sensor and preprogrammed end of life criteria; notify with a notification device when the end of life state of the fuel cell is determined; control a continuous feed of the fuel gas supplied only to the anode side and a continuous feed of the oxidant supplied only to the cathode side; control continuous operation of the fuel cell in a steady-state by controlling a steady-state load generator to draw a steady current throughout the recovery process without cycling, thereby removing oxides from a catalyst surface to recover the catalyst performance of the fuel cell; determine a recovery state of the fuel cell based on a recovery parameter and preprogrammed recovery criteria, the recovery state indicating that the catalyst performance has been recovered; and allow operation of the fuel cell in the steady-state to cease when the recovery is detected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification