RAPID RESPONSE SENSOR FOR CARBON MONOXIDE

摘要

Species detection techniques are described based on measurement of a dynamic response to an external stimulus. One embodiment includes a voltage stimulus applied to a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), with the response to said stimulus used to measure CO concentration on the anode catalyst. The principles of symbolic dynamics, finite state machines or a simplified peak response-to-asymptotic value measurement can be used to achieve a high degree of precision for measuring CO concentrations. Using the techniques of the present invention, CO poisoning of a fuel cell can be monitored and diagnosed before reaching a critical condition, thereby allowing early implementation of mitigation or graceful degradation strategies.