CN116072936A - On-line detection device and method for leakage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack - Google Patents
On-line detection device and method for leakage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack Download PDFInfo
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- CN116072936A CN116072936A CN202310049162.3A CN202310049162A CN116072936A CN 116072936 A CN116072936 A CN 116072936A CN 202310049162 A CN202310049162 A CN 202310049162A CN 116072936 A CN116072936 A CN 116072936A
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M8/04—Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
- H01M8/04298—Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems
- H01M8/04313—Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems characterised by the detection or assessment of variables; characterised by the detection or assessment of failure or abnormal function
- H01M8/04664—Failure or abnormal function
- H01M8/04679—Failure or abnormal function of fuel cell stacks
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M8/04—Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
- H01M8/04298—Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems
- H01M8/04313—Processes for controlling fuel cells or fuel cell systems characterised by the detection or assessment of variables; characterised by the detection or assessment of failure or abnormal function
- H01M8/04537—Electric variables
- H01M8/04574—Current
- H01M8/04582—Current of the individual fuel cell
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M8/10—Fuel cells with solid electrolytes
- H01M8/1007—Fuel cells with solid electrolytes with both reactants being gaseous or vaporised
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M8/24—Grouping of fuel cells, e.g. stacking of fuel cells
- H01M8/241—Grouping of fuel cells, e.g. stacking of fuel cells with solid or matrix-supported electrolytes
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M8/24—Grouping of fuel cells, e.g. stacking of fuel cells
- H01M8/2457—Grouping of fuel cells, e.g. stacking of fuel cells with both reactants being gaseous or vaporised
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01M—PROCESSES OR MEANS, e.g. BATTERIES, FOR THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF CHEMICAL ENERGY INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY
- H01M8/00—Fuel cells; Manufacture thereof
- H01M8/10—Fuel cells with solid electrolytes
- H01M2008/1095—Fuel cells with polymeric electrolytes
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
- Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
- Y02E60/30—Hydrogen technology
- Y02E60/50—Fuel cells
Abstract
The invention relates to the technical field of fuel cells, in particular to an on-line detection device and method for leakage of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack. Comprising the following steps: determining a detection type, the detection type comprising: reactant transfer leak detection, oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, and fuel-coolant transfer leak detection; according to the detection type, corresponding gas sources are respectively supplied to a fuel inlet, a coolant inlet and an oxidant inlet of the electric pile, wherein the gas sources are inert gases or fuels; applying a potential difference across the fuel cells of the stack, measuring a transfer current between the anode and the cathode of the fuel cells; and judging whether the fuel cell has leakage corresponding to the detection type according to the reference current and the measured transfer current. The detection device and the detection method can effectively detect the leakage condition of each section in the electric pile by detecting the single power saving Chi Zhujie in the electric pile, are little in external interference, and are not influenced by the number of the sections and the active area of the electric pile.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of fuel cells, in particular to an on-line detection device and method for leakage of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack.
Background
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) is a high-efficiency device, which is not limited by the Carnot cycle of internal combustion engine, directly converts chemical energy in fuel hydrogen (pure hydrogen or reformed gas) and oxidant (pure oxygen or air) into electric energy, and the product of the PEMFC is only water, which is very friendly to the environment, so the PEMFC is considered as one of the most promising clean energy sources, is widely popularized in the vehicle-mounted energy field, and is helpful for realizing the aims of energy conservation, emission reduction, low carbon and environmental protection in China.
There are several conventional methods of detecting PEMFC stack leakage, and first, the presence of hydrogen can be detected by monitoring the oxidizer off-gas. When hydrogen is detected in the oxidizer exhaust stream, this may indicate a leak. One problem with this approach is that hydrogen may be present in the oxidizer exhaust stream for other reasons than fuel leakage. For example, if the cathode is starved of oxygen, protons reaching the cathode from the anode may recombine with electrons to form hydrogen. The above-mentioned lack of oxygen is caused by a number of reasons, for example, the lack of oxygen may be due to a sudden increase in power output demand, compressor failure and liquid water accumulation causing obstruction of the oxidant flow field channels, etc. Another problem with using hydrogen as a leak indicator is that hydrogen may react within the fuel cell, particularly when a catalyst is present at the three-phase interface between the electrolyte and the electrodes, which is very susceptible to catalytic reactions. Thus, there is a great likelihood that a partial or complete catalytic reaction of hydrogen will occur prior to exposure to a detector located in the oxidant exhaust manifold, so the detected hydrogen concentration may not accurately reflect the actual leak condition.
Another method of detecting PEMFC stack leakage is to detect the presence of oxygen by monitoring fuel off-gas. The disadvantage of this approach is that the anode has other potential sources of oxygen. For example, oxygen is sometimes introduced into a fuel reformate gas (in the presence of carbon monoxide) supply stream to mitigate the effects of catalyst poisoning. Another important source of anodic oxygen is water, which can undergo catalytic reactions at the anode to convert oxygen, electrons and protons when fuel is in shortage. The detected oxygen concentration may not accurately reflect the actual leakage.
PEMFC stacks are also typically leak checked prior to running power generation, for example, after assembly or during routine maintenance. The pressure difference method is generally adopted, such as leakage detection of a fuel cavity to an oxidant cavity, a coolant inlet manifold and an outlet manifold are closed by an on-off valve, the fuel outlet manifold and the oxidant inlet manifold are communicated with the inlet end of a flowmeter, the outlet end of the flowmeter is communicated with the atmosphere, compressed air or inert gas is introduced into the fuel inlet manifold, a certain pressure (10-100 kPa) is maintained, and the reading of the flowmeter when the stability is achieved is recorded, namely the leakage flow of the fuel cavity to the oxidant cavity.
The above conventional methods have a common problem that the detected leakage amount is the result of the whole PEMFC stack, and it is not clear which section or sections of cells leak, and it is generally necessary to disassemble the stack and re-detect the leakage in groups until each leakage unit is found, and the above iterative process is complicated, is not desirable, is time-consuming, and is easy to cause irreversible damage to the stack.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a simple and reliable method for detecting the leakage of the PEMFC stack and accurately identifying a specific leakage unit.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides an on-line detection device and method for leakage of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack, which solve at least one technical problem in the prior art.
The technical scheme of the invention is as follows: an on-line detection method for leakage of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack, comprising the following steps:
s10: determining a detection type, the detection type comprising: reactant transfer leak detection, oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, and fuel-coolant transfer leak detection;
s20: according to the detection type, corresponding gas sources are respectively supplied to a fuel inlet, a coolant inlet and an oxidant inlet of the electric pile, wherein the gas sources are inert gases or fuels;
s30: applying a potential difference across the fuel cells of the stack, measuring a transfer current between the anode and the cathode of the fuel cells;
s40: and judging whether the fuel cell has leakage corresponding to the detection type according to the reference current and the measured transfer current.
Further, the step S20 includes:
when the detection type is a reactant transfer leak detection, supplying fuel to the fuel inlet at a first pressure and inert gas to the oxidant inlet at a second pressure;
when the detection type is an oxidizer-coolant transfer leak detection, supplying fuel to the fuel inlet at a third pressure, supplying fuel to the coolant inlet at a fourth pressure, and supplying an inert gas to the oxidizer inlet at a fifth pressure;
when the detection type is a fuel-coolant transfer leak detection, an inert gas is supplied to the fuel inlet at a sixth pressure, a fuel is supplied to the coolant inlet at a seventh pressure, and a fuel is supplied to the oxidant inlet at an eighth pressure.
Further, the first pressure is greater than the second pressure, the fourth pressure is greater than the third pressure and the fifth pressure, the fifth pressure is greater than or equal to the third pressure, the seventh pressure is greater than the sixth pressure and the eighth pressure is greater than or equal to the sixth pressure.
Further, the step S30 includes:
when the detection type is reactant transfer leakage detection, the cathode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the anode voltage;
when the detection type is oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, the cathode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the anode voltage;
when the detection type is fuel-coolant transfer leak detection, the anode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the cathode voltage.
Further, the step S30 includes:
when a plurality of fuel cells exist in the electric pile, applying potential difference on at least one fuel cell of the electric pile, and measuring transfer current between anode and cathode of one or more fuel cells;
applying potential difference to all fuel cells of the electric pile in sequence, and measuring the transfer current of each fuel cell or a plurality of fuel cells;
the step S40: and judging whether each fuel cell or a plurality of fuel cells have corresponding types of leakage according to the measured transfer current and the reference current of the fuel cells.
Further, when a potential difference is applied across the plurality of fuel cells, a transfer current between the anode of the first fuel cell and the cathode of the last fuel cell is measured.
Further, the step S40 includes: when the measured transfer current is greater than the reference current, the fuel cell has a leak of the corresponding detection type.
Another technical scheme of the invention provides: a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leakage on-line detection device for implementing any one of the above proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leakage on-line detection methods, comprising:
fuel gas source: for delivering fuel to the corresponding inlet according to the detection type;
an inert gas source: the device is used for conveying inert gas to the corresponding inlet according to the detection type;
constant voltage power supply: connecting an anode and a cathode of a fuel cell of the electric pile, and applying a potential difference to the fuel cell of the electric pile;
current meter: and the constant voltage power supply is connected in series and is used for measuring the transfer current between the anode and the cathode of the fuel cell.
Further, the method further comprises the following steps:
a path selector; the fuel cell is respectively connected with the constant voltage power supply and each fuel cell of the electric pile, and is used for selecting one or more fuel cells in the electric pile to be connected with the constant voltage power supply;
recording instrument: the current meter is connected with the current meter and used for acquiring data of the current meter;
and (3) a controller: and the constant voltage power supply is respectively connected with the constant voltage power supply and the passage selector, and is used for controlling the passage selector to sequentially select the anode and the cathode of the single battery or the plurality of batteries to be connected with the constant voltage power supply and controlling the output voltage of the constant voltage power supply.
Further, the fuel gas source and the fuel gas source are both connected with an inlet of the electric pile through a pressure valve, and the pressure valve is used for conveying pressure.
The invention has the beneficial effects that: the device can be integrated into a fuel cell system, and can directly perform leakage detection when corresponding gas supply conditions are met when the PEMFC galvanic pile is arranged in a power station or a vehicle-mounted operation site, and the device is used as a site maintenance method. The detection device and the detection method adopt an electrochemical method for testing, the detection precision of the detection device is dependent on a current meter capable of realizing high-precision measurement, and the testing accuracy is far higher than that of the prior art. The detection device and the detection method can effectively detect the leakage condition of each section in the electric pile by detecting the single power saving Chi Zhujie in the electric pile, are little in external interference, and are not influenced by the number of the sections and the active area of the electric pile. The inventive detection apparatus and method detects a single cell Chi Zhujie in a stack, which cell leak is specifically detected, and more specifically, whether it is a fuel-oxidant transfer leak, an oxidant-coolant transfer leak, or an oxidant-coolant leak. The automatic detection recorder realizes automatic detection, does not need manual intervention, saves labor cost, has more stable data, can directly participate in product diagnosis, and can be particularly applied to reliability type selection judgment of PEMFC core components.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the detection method of the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
In order that those skilled in the art will better understand the present invention, a technical solution in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any inventive effort, shall fall within the scope of the present invention.
In an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram provided by specific steps of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leakage online detection method according to the present invention. As shown in fig. 1, the method of the present invention specifically comprises the following four steps:
s10: determining a detection type, the detection type comprising: reactant transfer leak detection, oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, and fuel-coolant transfer leak detection.
S20: and respectively supplying corresponding gas sources to the fuel inlet, the coolant inlet and the oxidant inlet of the electric pile according to the detection type, wherein the gas sources are inert gases or fuels.
S30: a potential difference is applied across the fuel cells of the stack and a transfer current is measured between the anode and cathode of the fuel cells.
S40: and judging whether the fuel cell has leakage corresponding to the detection type according to the reference current and the measured transfer current.
Wherein when there are multiple fuel cells in the stack, a potential difference is applied across at least one fuel cell of the stack, and a transfer current between the anode and cathode of one or more fuel cells is measured. And sequentially applying potential differences to all the fuel cells of the electric pile, and measuring the transfer current of each fuel cell or a plurality of fuel cells. And judging whether each fuel cell or a plurality of fuel cells have corresponding types of leakage according to the measured transfer current and the reference current of the fuel cells. When a potential difference is applied across a plurality of fuel cells, a transfer current is measured between the anode of the first fuel cell and the cathode of the last fuel cell.
The above-mentioned "transfer leakage" refers to the situation where reactants may mix with each other or with coolant within the fuel cell due to seal imperfections between the MEA, the flow field plates, and/or both. More specifically, "reactant transfer leak" refers to a transfer leak where fuel and oxidant may mix. Typical sources of "reactant transfer leaks" include small pinholes or cracked fuel-oxidant bipolar plates on the MEA membrane. "Fuel to coolant transfer leakage" refers to transfer leakage where fuel and coolant may mix. "oxidant to coolant transfer leakage" refers to transfer leakage where the oxidant and coolant may mix. Typical sources of fuel-coolant and oxidant-coolant transfer leakage are cracked fuel coolant flow field plates and cracked oxidant-coolant flow field plates, respectively. "reactant-coolant transfer leakage" generally refers to fuel-coolant and oxidant-coolant transfer leakage.
The "fuel" in the above step S20 refers to a pure hydrogen gas stream or a reformed gas stream containing hydrogen; "oxidant" refers to a stream of pure oxygen or a stream containing oxygen, such as air. "inert gas" refers to a gas that does not substantially react in the fuel cell stack, such as nitrogen, argon, helium, or carbon dioxide.
The "transfer current" in the above step S30 refers to the current flowing through the fuel cell due to the hydrogen oxidation at one electrode of the fuel cell.
The invention further provides an on-line detection device capable of realizing the on-line detection method for the leakage of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack.
The structure of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack can be referred to as fig. 2. And in particular, upper end plate 94, lower end plate 96, and cells 108a-108 d. The stack 90 is shown with 4 cells for illustrative purposes only, and a typical fuel cell stack contains tens to hundreds of cells, with the actual number of cells of the stack 90 depending on the particular application scenario. The cells 108a-108d are each comprised of a coolant flow field-carrying oxidant plate, fuel plate and MEA (115 a-115 d), respectively, with the gas source 100 being removably connected to the fuel inlet manifold 102 via conduit 104 to provide gas flow to the stack 90, and the pressure valve 106 regulating the pressure of the gas flow supplied to the stack 90. The gas source 120 is removably connected to the oxidant inlet manifold 122 via conduit 124 to provide a flow of gas to the stack 90 and the pressure valve 126 regulates the pressure of the flow of gas supplied to the stack 90. Air source 110 is removably connected to coolant inlet manifold 112 by way of conduit 114 for supplying fuel to stack 90, providing an air flow to stack 90, with pressure valve 116 regulating the pressure of the fuel supplied to stack 90. The gas supplied to the stacks 90 is discharged through the corresponding exhaust manifolds. Where fuel inlet manifold 102 is the fuel inlet of the stack, oxidant inlet manifold 122 is the oxidant inlet of the stack, and coolant inlet manifold 112 is the coolant inlet of the stack.
The proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leakage on-line detection device of the invention specifically comprises as shown in fig. 1 and 2: the device comprises a fuel gas source, an inert gas source, a constant voltage power supply, a current meter, a passage selector, a recorder and a controller.
The fuel gas source is used for delivering fuel to the corresponding inlet according to the detection type. The inert gas source is used for conveying inert gas to the corresponding inlet according to the detection type. The above-described gas sources 100, 110, 120 will be selected between the fuel gas source and the inert gas source depending on the type of detection. The fuel gas source and the fuel gas source are connected with an inlet of the electric pile through a pressure valve, and the pressure valve is used for conveying pressure. The specific pressure valves are pressure valve 106, pressure valve 116, and pressure valve 126.
The constant voltage power supply is connected with the anode and the cathode of the fuel cells of the electric pile and is used for applying potential difference to the fuel cells of the electric pile. A specific constant voltage power supply 150 is connected to the stack 90 to apply a selected potential difference across at least one cell in the stack, preferably the constant voltage power supply 150 applies a selected potential difference across each cell of the stack.
The current meter 160 may be connected to any one of the cells of the stack to which a potential difference is applied for measuring a transfer current through the cell, and in particular, is connected in series with the constant voltage power supply for measuring a transfer current between an anode and a cathode of the fuel cell.
The path selector is connected to the constant voltage power supply and each fuel cell of the stack, respectively, and is used for selecting one or more fuel cells in the stack to be connected to the constant voltage power supply, for example, when a potential difference is applied to the 108b cell, the current meter is connected as shown in fig. 2.
The recorder is connected with the current meter and used for acquiring data of the current meter. The controller is respectively connected with the constant voltage power supply and the passage selector and is used for controlling the passage selector to sequentially select the anode and the cathode of the single battery or the plurality of batteries to be connected with the constant voltage power supply and controlling the output voltage of the constant voltage power supply. The controller can also control the galvo to read the current value in the detection loop and record it by the recorder.
The following are specific embodiments of the present invention:
example 1
The type of detection in this embodiment is reactant transfer leak detection, where gas source 100 is a fuel gas source and supplies fuel gas to the fuel manifold at a first pressure, gas source 120 is an inert gas source and supplies inert gas to the oxidant inlet manifold at a second pressure, the first pressure and the second pressure maintaining a fixed pressure differential, ensuring that the first pressure is greater than the second pressure. The pressure difference between the first pressure and the second pressure may be between 0kPa and 70kPa, preferably between 10kPa and 40 kPa. A potential difference is then applied across at least one cell (preferably one) in the stack to form a closed loop, causing the cathode of the fuel cell to be more positive than the anode (the anode being the reference electrode), specifically the voltage at the cathode being greater than the voltage at the anode, wherein the potential difference can be between 0.2V and 0.9V, and preferably about 0.5V. And measuring a transfer current, and when the transfer current is larger than a reference current, indicating that the reactant transfer leakage exists in the battery, wherein the reference current is obtained by a user through a pre-test, in particular to a battery damage test without leakage. Applying potential difference to all cells in the cell stack one by one until the leak detection of all single cells in the cell stack is completed.
For example, gas source 100 provides fuel, gas source 120 provides an inert gas, and gas source 110 may provide a coolant or not provide any gas or liquid. The air pressure valves 106 and 126 are adjusted to ensure that fuel is supplied to the stack 90 at a higher pressure than the inert gas. In addition, in the arrangement of fig. 2, a regulator pneumatic valve 116 prevents gas in gas source 110 from being supplied to stack 90. The constant voltage power supply 150 applies a potential difference across one cell in the stack 90, wherein one cell of the stack is sequentially selected by the path selector to be connected to the constant voltage power supply. A current meter 160 is connected in series with the cross-current power supply for measuring the transfer current through the battery, for example by applying a potential difference to the 108b battery, the current meter being connected as shown. In the absence of leakage of reactant transfer, very small amounts of hydrogen (the membrane itself has some permeability) diffuse across the membrane, producing a small constant transfer current. Reactant transfer leakage can result in an increase in the rate of hydrogen transfer to the cathode side of the fuel cell and a corresponding increase in the rate of oxidation of hydrogen at the cathode, which in turn can result in an increase in transfer current that can be detected by the amperometric device. The detected cell transfer current is compared to a reference transfer current and if the detected transfer current is higher than the reference transfer current, the cell is indicated to have a reactant transfer leak.
Example 2
The type of detection in this embodiment is an oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, where gas source 100 is a fuel gas source and supplies fuel gas to the fuel manifold at a third pressure, gas source 110 is a fuel gas source supplying fuel to the coolant inlet manifold at a fourth pressure, gas source 120 is an inert gas source and supplies inert gas to the oxidant inlet at a fifth pressure, and the fourth pressure is maintained at a pressure differential from the third pressure to the fifth pressure, respectively, preferably greater than the third pressure and the fifth pressure, and the pressure differential may be between 0kPa and 70kPa, preferably between 10kPa and 40 kPa. A potential difference is then applied across at least one cell (preferably one) in the stack to cause the cathode of the fuel cell to be more positive than the anode (the anode being the reference electrode), specifically the cathode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the anode voltage, wherein the potential difference can be between 0.2V and 0.9V, and preferably about 0.5V. The transfer current is measured and when the transfer current is greater than the reference current, it is indicative of an oxidizer-coolant transfer leak from the battery.
For example, gas source 100 and gas source 110 both provide fuel gas, gas source 120 provides inert gas, and gas pressure valves 106, 116, and 126 are adjusted to ensure that the fuel of 110 is supplied to stack 90 at a higher pressure. The constant voltage power supply 150 applies a potential difference across at least one cell (preferably one cell) in the stack 90, wherein any cell of the stack is selected by the path selector to be connected to the constant voltage power supply. A current meter 160 is connected in series with the cross-current power supply for measuring the transfer current through the battery, for example by applying a potential difference to the 108b battery, the current meter being connected as shown. If there is no transfer leakage of oxidant to the coolant, very little hydrogen (the membrane itself has some permeability) diffuses across the membrane, producing a small constant transfer current. As fuel is diverted from the coolant path to the cathode chamber of the cell, oxidant-to-coolant transfer leakage may cause an increase in the rate of oxidation of hydrogen at the cathode, which in turn may cause an increase in transfer current, which may be detected by the flow meter. The detected single cell transfer current is compared to a reference transfer current and if the detected transfer current is higher than the reference transfer current, the presence of an oxidant-coolant leak is indicated.
Example 3
The type of detection of this embodiment is a fuel-coolant transfer leak detection, which is substantially the same as embodiment 2,
except that gas source 100 is an inert gas source and supplies inert gas to the fuel manifold at a sixth pressure, gas source 110 is a fuel gas source supplying fuel to the coolant inlet manifold at a seventh pressure, and gas source 120 is a fuel gas source supplying fuel to the oxidant inlet at an eighth pressure, wherein the seventh pressure is greater than the sixth pressure and the eighth pressure is greater than or equal to the sixth pressure.
A potential difference is applied to the cell to cause the anode to be more positive than the cathode (in this embodiment, the cathode is the reference electrode), i.e., the anode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the cathode voltage. Thus, referring again to FIG. 2, gas sources 110 and 120 contain fuel gas and gas source 100 contains inert gas. If there is no transfer leak of fuel to the coolant, very little hydrogen (the membrane itself has some permeability) diffuses across the membrane, producing a small constant transfer current. As fuel is transferred from the coolant path to the anode chamber of the cell, fuel to coolant transfer leakage may cause an increase in the oxidation rate of hydrogen at the anode, which in turn may cause an increase in transfer current, which may be detected by the flow meter. The detected transfer current of the single cell is compared with a reference transfer current, and if the detected transfer current is higher than the reference transfer current, the presence of a fuel-coolant leak is indicated.
Finally, it should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments are only for illustrating the technical solution of the present invention, and not for limiting the same, and although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to examples, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications and equivalents may be made to the technical solution of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solution of the present invention, and all such modifications and equivalents are intended to be encompassed in the scope of the claims of the present invention.
Claims (10)
1. The on-line detection method for the leakage of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack is characterized by comprising the following steps of:
s10: determining a detection type, the detection type comprising: reactant transfer leak detection, oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, and fuel-coolant transfer leak detection;
s20: according to the detection type, corresponding gas sources are respectively supplied to a fuel inlet, a coolant inlet and an oxidant inlet of the electric pile, wherein the gas sources are inert gases or fuels;
s30: applying a potential difference across the fuel cells of the stack, measuring a transfer current between the anode and the cathode of the fuel cells;
s40: and judging whether the fuel cell has leakage corresponding to the detection type according to the reference current and the measured transfer current.
2. The on-line detection method for leakage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack according to claim 1, wherein said step S20 comprises:
when the detection type is a reactant transfer leak detection, supplying fuel to the fuel inlet at a first pressure and inert gas to the oxidant inlet at a second pressure;
when the detection type is an oxidizer-coolant transfer leak detection, supplying fuel to the fuel inlet at a third pressure, supplying fuel to the coolant inlet at a fourth pressure, and supplying an inert gas to the oxidizer inlet at a fifth pressure;
when the detection type is a fuel-coolant transfer leak detection, an inert gas is supplied to the fuel inlet at a sixth pressure, a fuel is supplied to the coolant inlet at a seventh pressure, and a fuel is supplied to the oxidant inlet at an eighth pressure.
3. The method for on-line detection of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leakage according to claim 2, wherein,
the first pressure is greater than the second pressure, the fourth pressure is greater than the third pressure and the fifth pressure, the fifth pressure is greater than or equal to the third pressure, the seventh pressure is greater than the sixth pressure and the eighth pressure, and the eighth pressure is greater than or equal to the sixth pressure.
4. The on-line detection method for leakage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack according to claim 1, wherein the step S30 comprises:
when the detection type is reactant transfer leakage detection, the cathode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the anode voltage;
when the detection type is oxidant-coolant transfer leak detection, the cathode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the anode voltage;
when the detection type is fuel-coolant transfer leak detection, the anode voltage of the fuel cell is greater than the cathode voltage.
5. The on-line detection method for leakage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack according to claim 1, wherein the step S30 comprises:
when a plurality of fuel cells exist in the electric pile, applying potential difference on at least one fuel cell of the electric pile, and measuring transfer current between anode and cathode of one or more fuel cells;
applying potential difference to all fuel cells of the electric pile in sequence, and measuring the transfer current of each fuel cell or a plurality of fuel cells;
the step S40: and judging whether each fuel cell or a plurality of fuel cells have corresponding types of leakage according to the measured transfer current and the reference current of the fuel cells.
6. The on-line proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leakage detection method as claimed in claim 5, wherein a transfer current between an anode of a first fuel cell and a cathode of a last fuel cell is measured when a potential difference is applied across the plurality of fuel cells.
7. The on-line detection method for leakage of proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack according to claim 1, wherein said step S40 comprises: when the measured transfer current is greater than the reference current, the fuel cell has a leak of the corresponding detection type.
8. A proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leak on-line detection apparatus for implementing the proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leak on-line detection method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by comprising:
fuel gas source: for delivering fuel to the corresponding inlet according to the detection type;
an inert gas source: the device is used for conveying inert gas to the corresponding inlet according to the detection type;
constant voltage power supply: connecting an anode and a cathode of a fuel cell of the electric pile, and applying a potential difference to the fuel cell of the electric pile;
current meter: and the constant voltage power supply is connected in series and is used for measuring the transfer current between the anode and the cathode of the fuel cell.
9. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leak on-line detection apparatus as defined in claim 8, further comprising:
a path selector; the fuel cell is respectively connected with the constant voltage power supply and each fuel cell of the electric pile, and is used for selecting one or more fuel cells in the electric pile to be connected with the constant voltage power supply;
recording instrument: the current meter is connected with the current meter and used for acquiring data of the current meter;
and (3) a controller: and the constant voltage power supply is respectively connected with the constant voltage power supply and the passage selector, and is used for controlling the passage selector to sequentially select the anode and the cathode of the single battery or the plurality of batteries to be connected with the constant voltage power supply and controlling the output voltage of the constant voltage power supply.
10. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack leak on-line detection apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the fuel gas source and the fuel gas source are both connected to an inlet of the stack through a pressure valve for a pressure of delivery.
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| CN116505033A (en) * | 2023-06-28 | 2023-07-28 | 佛山市清极能源科技有限公司 | Fuel cell air system leakage diagnosis method |
| CN116505033B (en) * | 2023-06-28 | 2023-12-22 | 佛山市清极能源科技有限公司 | Fuel cell air system leakage diagnosis method |
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