Method and device for recovering performance of fuel cell stack and medium

Abstract

The invention provides a method and a device for recovering the performance of a fuel cell stack, and a medium. The method comprises the following steps: detecting the leakage of cooling liquid in the fuel cell stack; in the first time period, controlling the voltage peak value of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold value; controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to the first current threshold in the second time period; the first time period is before the second time period, the first voltage threshold is greater than the operating voltage of the fuel cell stack, and the first current threshold is greater than the operating current of the fuel cell stack. The ethylene glycol in the fuel cell stack is oxidized and decomposed by adopting high potential in the first time period, and then a large amount of water is generated by adopting high current in the second time period for washing, so that the ethylene glycol in the reaction area of the fuel cell stack is removed, and the performance of the fuel cell stack can be recovered.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the field of fuel cell technology, and specifically relates to a method, device and medium for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack. Background Art

[0002] When a fuel cell vehicle is running, the coolant in the fuel cell stack may leak into the reaction area due to road vibration or other reasons, causing a significant drop in the performance of the fuel cell stack. Currently, fuel cell stacks contaminated by coolant need to be returned to the factory for cleaning, resulting in poor user experience and high maintenance costs.

[0003] Therefore, how to clean the contaminated fuel cell simply and quickly is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the problems existing in the above-mentioned prior art, a method, device and computer-readable storage medium for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack are proposed. The above-mentioned problems can be solved by using this method, device and computer-readable storage medium.

[0005] This application provides the following solution.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a method for restoring fuel cell stack performance, comprising: A coolant leak in the fuel cell stack was detected; In a first time period, controlling a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold; In a second time period, controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first current threshold; During the first time period and before the second time period, the first voltage threshold is greater than the operating voltage of the fuel cell stack, and the first current threshold is greater than the operating current of the fuel cell stack.

[0007] In some possible embodiments, controlling the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than a first voltage threshold within the first time period includes: In a first time period, the fuel cell stack is controlled to be intermittently in an open circuit operation state so that a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is equal to a first voltage threshold, and the first voltage threshold includes an open circuit voltage of the fuel cell stack.

[0008] In some possible embodiments, controlling the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than a first voltage threshold within the first time period includes: In a first time period, the fuel cell stack is controlled to be intermittently connected to a first load of an external circuit so that a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is greater than a first voltage threshold.

[0009] In some possible embodiments, controlling the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold within the first time period includes: In the first time period, the voltage peak of a single cell in the fuel cell stack is controlled to be greater than or equal to 0.95V.

[0010] In some possible embodiments, in the second time period, controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to the first current threshold includes: In the second time period, the fuel cell stack is controlled to be connected to a second load of the external circuit so that the current of the fuel cell stack is greater than or equal to the first current threshold.

[0011] In some possible embodiments, during the second time period, the method further includes: The flow rates of oxygen and hydrogen in the fuel cell are controlled to match a first current threshold.

[0012] In some possible embodiments, detecting a coolant leak in a fuel cell stack includes: It is detected that the performance of the fuel cell stack is below a preset threshold.

[0013] In some possible embodiments, the cooling liquid includes ethylene glycol.

[0014] In a second aspect, the present application provides a device for restoring fuel cell stack performance, comprising: A detection module, used to detect coolant leakage in a fuel cell stack; A first control module, used to control a voltage peak value of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold within a first time period; A second control module, configured to control the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first current threshold value during a second time period; During the first time period and before the second time period, the first voltage threshold is greater than the operating voltage of the fuel cell stack, and the first current threshold is greater than the operating current of the fuel cell stack.

[0015] In a third aspect, the present application provides a device for restoring fuel cell stack performance, comprising: At least one processor; and a memory in communication with the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the above-mentioned method for restoring the performance of the fuel cell stack.

[0016] In a fourth aspect, the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a program, which, when executed by a multi-core processor, enables the multi-core processor to execute the above-mentioned method for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack.

[0017] One of the advantages of the above embodiment is that the present application uses high-potential oxidation to decompose the ethylene glycol in the fuel cell stack in the first time period, and then uses a large current to generate a large amount of water for flushing in the second time period to remove the ethylene glycol in the reaction area of ​​the fuel cell stack, thereby restoring the performance of the fuel cell stack.

[0018] Other advantages of the present application will be explained in more detail with reference to the following description and drawings.

[0019] It should be understood that the above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present application, so that the technical means of the present application can be more clearly understood and implemented according to the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are specifically described below by way of example. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The advantages and benefits described herein and other advantages and benefits will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments below. The accompanying drawings are only used for the purpose of illustrating the exemplary embodiments and are not to be considered as limiting the present application. In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 A flowchart of a method for restoring fuel cell stack performance provided in an embodiment of the present application; Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the voltage of a fuel cell stack in a first time period provided in an embodiment of the present application; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the current of a fuel cell stack in a second time period provided in an embodiment of the present application Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a device for restoring fuel cell stack performance provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0021] In the drawings, the same or corresponding reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] The exemplary embodiments of the present application will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although the exemplary embodiments of the present application are shown in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the present application can be implemented in various forms and should not be limited by the embodiments described herein. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided to enable a more thorough understanding of the present application and to fully convey the scope of the present application to those skilled in the art.

[0023] In the description of the embodiments of the present application, it should be understood that terms such as "including" or "having" are intended to indicate the presence of disclosed features, numbers, steps, behaviors, components, parts, or a combination thereof in the present specification, and do not exclude the possibility of the presence of one or more other features, numbers, steps, behaviors, components, parts, or a combination thereof.

[0024] Unless otherwise specified, “ / ” means or. For example, A / B can mean A or B. The “and / or” in this article is merely a way to describe the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone.

[0025] The terms "first", "second", etc. are used only to distinguish the same or similar technical features for the convenience of description, and should not be understood as indicating or implying the relative importance or quantity of these technical features. Thus, the features defined by "first", "second", etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified, the term "plurality" means two or more than two.

[0026] It should also be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments and features in the embodiments of the present application can be combined with each other. The present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in combination with the embodiments.

[0027] See also Figure 1 , which is a flow chart of a method for restoring fuel cell stack performance provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0028] like Figure 1 As shown, the method for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack provided in an embodiment of the present application includes: S101: Coolant leakage in the fuel cell stack is detected.

[0029] It should be noted that the coolant usually includes ethylene glycol. If ethylene glycol leaks into the reaction area of ​​the fuel cell stack, the performance of the fuel cell stack will be greatly reduced. The embodiment of the present application can detect whether the coolant in the fuel cell stack is leaking by using a special detection device, or it can indirectly detect whether the coolant in the fuel cell stack is leaking by detecting the performance of the fuel cell stack. The embodiment of the present application is not limited here. As an example, the present application can infer that the coolant in the fuel cell stack is leaking after detecting that the performance of the fuel cell stack is lower than a preset threshold.

[0030] S102: In a first time period, control the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold.

[0031] It should be noted that the voltage peak value of the fuel cell stack controlled by the embodiment of the present application is greater than or equal to the first voltage threshold value, which can make the potential of the single-chip battery in the fuel cell stack higher. The high potential will accelerate the reaction of the ethylene glycol in the coolant with the oxygen in the air introduced into the stack, and be oxidized into acetic acid and water. Acetic acid is a smaller molecule than ethylene glycol, and ethylene glycol is more easily washed by water after being oxidized to water. In practical applications, the first voltage threshold value is usually greater than the operating voltage of the fuel cell stack. In order to ensure the speed at which ethylene glycol is oxidized, the embodiment of the present application can control the voltage peak value of the single-chip battery in the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to 0.95V.

[0032] In the embodiments of the present application, there are multiple ways to control the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to the first voltage threshold. As a possible implementation, during the first time period, the fuel cell stack can be controlled to be intermittently in an open circuit operation state so that the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is equal to the first voltage threshold, and the first voltage threshold includes the open circuit voltage of the fuel cell stack. It should be noted that when the present application controls the fuel cell stack to be in an open circuit operation state, both ends of the fuel cell stack are open, the fuel cell stack has no load, and the voltage of the fuel cell stack reaches a maximum value, that is, the open circuit voltage OCV.

[0033] As another possible implementation, during the first time period, the present application can control the fuel cell stack to intermittently connect to the first load of the external circuit so that the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is greater than the first voltage threshold. The first load in the present application is a relatively large load, and the fuel cell stack pulls a small current by connecting to the first load, that is, only a small current flows through the fuel cell after the fuel cell stack is connected to the first load. When the fuel cell stack pulls a small current, the voltage of the fuel cell stack is relatively large, and the fuel cell stack can be in an idle state at this time.

[0034] like Figure 2 As shown, in the above two embodiments, the voltage of the fuel cell in the embodiment of the present application intermittently reaches a high potential Vmax (Vmax is greater than or equal to the first voltage threshold). It should be noted that when the voltage of the fuel cell is at a high potential, ethylene glycol is quickly oxidized to acetic acid, and when the voltage of the fuel cell is at a low potential V1, the water generated by the reaction of the fuel cell stack can flush the acetic acid generated by the reaction at a high potential in time, thereby achieving a better effect of removing ethylene glycol.

[0035] S103: In the second time period, controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first current threshold.

[0036] It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to the first current threshold value can cause the fuel cell stack reaction to produce a large amount of water, thereby further flushing the acetic acid in the reaction area of ​​the fuel cell stack, achieving the effect of removing the acetic acid, thereby improving the removal effect of the ethylene glycol in the reaction area of ​​the fuel cell stack. In the embodiment of the present application, in order to flush the acetic acid, the first time period in the present application is usually before the second time period, and the first current threshold in the present application is greater than the operating current of the fuel cell stack.

[0037] In order to generate a large amount of water in the fuel cell stack, it is necessary to supply the fuel cell stack with sufficient oxygen and hydrogen. Therefore, the present application can also control the flow rate of oxygen and hydrogen in the fuel cell to match the first current threshold in the second time period. Figure 3 As shown, as a possible implementation, the embodiment of the present application can control the fuel cell stack to connect to the second load of the external circuit within the second time period, so that the current of the fuel cell stack is maintained at Imax (Imax is greater than or equal to the first current threshold) for a period of time, and then restore the normal current I1. The second load in the present application is a smaller load, and the fuel cell stack can pull a large current by connecting to the second load, so that the reaction in the fuel cell stack produces a large amount of water to flush the acetic acid and ethylene glycol in the reaction area.

[0038] The present application uses high potential oxidation to decompose ethylene glycol in the fuel cell stack in the first time period, and then uses a large current to generate a large amount of water for flushing in the second time period to remove the ethylene glycol in the fuel cell stack and restore the performance of the fuel cell stack. In actual applications, in order to obtain a better effect of removing ethylene glycol, the operations of the first time period and the second time period can be repeated after the second time period, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited here.

[0039] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "some possible embodiments", "some embodiments", "examples", "specific examples", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present application, and the above terms do not necessarily represent the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the described specific features, structures, materials or characteristics may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory.

[0040] About the method flow chart of the present application embodiment, some operations are described as different steps performed in a certain order. Such flow chart belongs to illustrative and non-restrictive. Some steps described in this article can be grouped together and performed in a single operation, or some steps can be divided into multiple sub-steps and can be performed in an order different from that shown in this article. Each step shown in the flow chart can be realized in any way by any circuit structure and / or tangible mechanism (for example, by software, hardware (for example, the logical function realized by processor or chip) etc. running on computer equipment and / or any combination thereof).

[0041] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in the method described in the above specific implementation, the writing order of each step does not mean a strict execution order, and the specific execution order of each step should be determined by its function and possible internal logic.

[0042] According to the method for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack provided in the above-mentioned embodiment, an embodiment of the present application also provides a device for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack.

[0043] like Figure 4 As shown, the device for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack provided in an embodiment of the present application includes: A detection module 100, used to detect coolant leakage in a fuel cell stack; A first control module 200, configured to control a voltage peak value of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold value within a first time period; A second control module 300 is used to control the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first current threshold value within a second time period; In which, during the first time period before the second time period, the first voltage threshold is greater than the operating voltage of the fuel cell stack, and the first current threshold is greater than the operating current of the fuel cell stack.

[0044] It should be noted that the coolant provided in the embodiment of the present application may include ethylene glycol. As a possible implementation, the first control module is used to control the fuel cell stack to be intermittently in an open circuit operation state during a first time period, so that the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is equal to a first voltage threshold, and the first voltage threshold includes the open circuit voltage of the fuel cell stack. As another possible implementation, the first control module is used to control the fuel cell stack to be intermittently connected to a first load of an external circuit during a first time period, so that the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is greater than the first voltage threshold.

[0045] As a possible implementation, the first control module is used to control the voltage peak value of a single cell in the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to 0.95V during the first time period.

[0046] As a possible implementation, the second control module is used to control the fuel cell stack to connect to a second load of the external circuit during the second time period so that the current of the fuel cell stack is greater than or equal to the first current threshold.

[0047] As a possible implementation, the second control module is further configured to control the flow rate of oxygen and the flow rate of hydrogen in the fuel cell to match the first current threshold value during the second time period.

[0048] As a possible implementation, the detection module is used to detect that the performance of the fuel cell stack is lower than a preset threshold.

[0049] It should be noted that the device for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack in the embodiment of the present application can implement the various processes of the embodiment of the aforementioned method for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack and achieve the same effects and functions, which will not be repeated here.

[0050] According to some embodiments of the present application, a device for restoring fuel cell stack performance according to an embodiment of the present application is provided, for performing Figure 1 The method for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack shown in the figure comprises: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by the at least one processor so that the at least one processor can execute the method described in the above embodiment.

[0051] According to some embodiments of the present application, a non-volatile computer storage medium is provided for a method of restoring fuel cell stack performance, on which computer executable instructions are stored. The computer executable instructions are configured to execute the method described in the above embodiments when executed by a processor.

[0052] Computer-readable media include permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media, and information storage can be implemented by any method or technology. Information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, modules of programs, or other data. Examples of computer-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory, read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, tape disk storage or other magnetic storage devices or any other non-transmission media that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. In addition, although the operations of the method of the present application are described in a specific order in the accompanying drawings, this does not require or imply that these operations must be performed in this specific order, or that all the operations shown must be performed to achieve the desired results. In addition, some steps can be omitted, multiple steps can be combined into one step, and / or one step can be decomposed into multiple sub-steps.

[0053] Although the spirit and principle of the present application have been described above with reference to several specific embodiments, it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the disclosed specific embodiments, and the division of various aspects does not mean that the features in these aspects cannot be combined. The present application is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included in the spirit and scope of the attached claims.

Claims

1. A method for restoring fuel cell stack performance, characterized in that: include: A coolant leak in the fuel cell stack was detected; In a first time period, controlling a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold; In a second time period, controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first current threshold; The first time period is before the second time period, the first voltage threshold is greater than an operating voltage of the fuel cell stack, and the first current threshold is greater than an operating current of the fuel cell stack.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step of controlling the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than a first voltage threshold within the first time period includes: In a first time period, the fuel cell stack is controlled to be intermittently in an open circuit operation state so that a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is equal to a first voltage threshold, wherein the first voltage threshold includes an open circuit voltage of the fuel cell stack.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The step of controlling the voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than a first voltage threshold within the first time period includes: In a first time period, the fuel cell stack is controlled to be intermittently connected to a first load of an external circuit so that a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack is greater than a first voltage threshold.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In a first time period, controlling a voltage peak of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold comprises: In the first time period, the voltage peak of a single cell in the fuel cell stack is controlled to be greater than or equal to 0.95V.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that Controlling the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to the first current threshold value during the second time period includes: In a second time period, the fuel cell stack is controlled to be connected to a second load of an external circuit so that a current of the fuel cell stack is greater than or equal to a first current threshold.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that In the second time period, the method further includes: The flow rates of oxygen and hydrogen in the fuel cell are controlled to match the first current threshold.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The detecting of coolant leakage in the fuel cell stack comprises: It is detected that the performance of the fuel cell stack is below a preset threshold.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The cooling liquid includes ethylene glycol.

9. A device for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack, characterized in that: include: A detection module, used to detect coolant leakage in a fuel cell stack; A first control module, used to control a voltage peak value of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first voltage threshold within a first time period; A second control module, configured to control the current of the fuel cell stack to be greater than or equal to a first current threshold value during a second time period; The first time period is before the second time period, the first voltage threshold is greater than an operating voltage of the fuel cell stack, and the first current threshold is greater than an operating current of the fuel cell stack.

10. A device for restoring the performance of a fuel cell stack, characterized in that: include: at least one processor; And, a memory communicatively connected to at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by at least one processor, and the instructions are executed by at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to execute: the method as described in any one of claims 1-8.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program, wherein when the program is executed by a multi-core processor, the multi-core processor executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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