IN-SITU RESISTIVE CURRENT AND TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION CIRCUIT FOR A FUEL CELL

摘要

A sensor plate (12) for measuring current and/or temperature distribution of an operating fuel cell (6). The sensor plate (12) has a circuit board (80) interposed between an anode flow field plate (20a) and a cathode flow field plate (20c) of the fuel cell (6). A flow field plate is segmented into a plurality of electrically isolated regions without disrupting the flow field of the plate. The circuit board (80) has an array of resistors (60, 62) and/or thermistors mounted to it wherein each resistor (60, 62) and/or thermistor is associated with one of the electrically isolated regions of the segmented plate. The current distribution of the electrically isolated regions of the fuel cell (6) is calculated by using the voltage drop across the resistors (60, 62) and the known resistance values of the resistors mounted to the circuit board (80).