Premium
Voltammetric Methods for Hydrogen Crossover Diagnosis in a PEMFC Stack
Author(s) -
Génevé T.,
Turpin C.,
Régnier J.,
Rallières O.,
Verdu O.,
Rakotondrainibe A.,
Lombard K.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
fuel cells
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.485
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1615-6854
pISSN - 1615-6846
DOI - 10.1002/fuce.201600073
Subject(s) - stack (abstract data type) , crossover , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , linear sweep voltammetry , context (archaeology) , voltage , cyclic voltammetry , materials science , computer science , fuel cells , electrode , chemistry , electrical engineering , electrochemistry , engineering , chemical engineering , artificial intelligence , paleontology , biology , programming language
Fuel cell diagnosis is a key point for a large scale development of this technology. Gas crossover through the membrane is one of the most crucial faults that have to be detected. Several methods of crossover estimation exist, but this work focuses on voltammetry. The main purpose is to provide a method of stack diagnosis that can be deployed in an industrial context for in situ measurements. The method has to detect accurately which cell is damaged, and how high the gas crossover is. Two voltammetric methods are compared on different stacks. First, cyclic voltammetry is applied to every cell of the stack (cell CV), cell after cell. Then potential is applied to the entire stack with an equivalent sweep rate (stack cyclic voltammetry – stack CV). Results show that with stack CV, one cannot strictly access the crossover current of a cell, as cell voltages are indeed not homogeneous along the stack and the current is common for all cells. However, an empirical law that links cell voltages during a stack CV and their crossover currents can be built. It can be used as an abacus to diagnose the crossover of each individual cell with a single stack CV.