Patent · US Active

Method for determining an average cell voltage for fuel cells

US8993185B2 · kind B2 · utility

0Cited by
2References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 3, 2014
Grant dateMar 31, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 3, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02E60/50
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for determining a maximum average cell voltage set-point for fuel cells in a fuel cell stack that considers oxidation of the catalyst in the fuel cells. The method includes determining the average cell voltage, the stack current density (I) and an internal resistance (R) of membranes in the fuel cells to calculate an IR corrected average cell voltage. The IR corrected average cell voltage is then used to determine the oxidation state of the catalyst particles using, for example, an empirical model. The oxidation state of the particles is then used to calculate the maximum average cell voltage set-point of the fuel cells, which is used to set the minimum power requested from the fuel cell stack.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.