METHOD FOR CHECKING THE SEAL OF A STACK OF FUEL CELLS

摘要

A stack (10) of fuel cells (11) is to be tested for seal-tightness of the fuel cell membranes. For this purpose, a trace gas is introduced into the fuel cell feed channel (15) of the stack (10). The fuel cell discharge channel (16) either remains open or it is closed. A carrier gas is fed to the feed air channel (17) and led through the discharge channel (18) to a gas sensor (28) where a determination is made whether the carrier gas contains amounts of trace gas. A defective fuel cell (11) can be located by introducing a lance comprising a sniffing probe into the corresponding channel (18) and determining the position of the probe.