Fuel cell reliability improvement by using stack end plate temperature sensors

摘要

A system and method for determining whether a fuel cell stack is overheating. The system measures the temperature of end cells in the stack using end cell temperature sensors, and calculates an average end cell temperature based on the end cell temperature measurements. The system also measures the temperature of a cooling fluid being output from the fuel cell stack. The system determines if any of the measured end cell temperatures are outlying by comparing each end cell temperature measurement to the average. The system determines that the cooling fluid outlet temperature sensor has possibly failed if the cooling fluid outlet temperature is greater than the average end cell temperature and the cooling fluid outlet temperature minus the average end cell temperature is greater than a predetermined temperature value. The system also determines that the fuel cell stack may be overheating if the average end cell temperature is greater than the cooling fluid outlet temperature and the average end cell temperature minus the cooling fluid outlet temperature is greater than a predetermined temperature value.