Anode purge method and system for fuel cell of vehicle, and fuel cell

Abstract

The invention relates to an anode purging method for a fuel cell, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell, for a vehicle, in which anode purging is carried out with a predetermined anode purging duration when the fuel cell is started for the first time, the anode purging method comprising the following steps: S110: detecting a power-on state of the vehicle; s120, in the state that the vehicle is powered on, the shutdown duration time after the fuel cell is started is detected; and S130: adapting the anode purge duration when the fuel cell is restarted, taking into account the shutdown duration. The invention also relates to a corresponding anode purging system, a fuel cell and a computer program product. According to the invention, after the fuel cell is temporarily shut down, the anode purging duration when the fuel cell is restarted can be adapted based on the shutdown duration, so that purging hydrogen can be saved, the requirement of a driver on vehicle starting can be quickly responded, and the user experience is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of fuel cells, and in particular to an anode purging method for a fuel cell for a vehicle, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell, and a corresponding anode purging system. The present invention also relates to a corresponding fuel cell and a computer program product. Background Art

[0002] With the development of new energy vehicles, fuel cells as power sources have been gradually applied to passenger cars.

[0003] In a fuel cell, especially a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (FEMFC), electrical energy is generated through the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. When the fuel cell stack is operating, hydrogen undergoes an electrochemical reaction at the anode, and air undergoes an electrochemical reaction at the cathode. When the fuel cell shuts down and then operates again, the anode of the fuel cell stack needs to be purged. Usually, hydrogen is used to purge the anode, so as to discharge substances in the anode flow channels and pipelines, such as oxygen, nitrogen, and liquid water, etc., in order to prevent "air-air startup" when the fuel cell starts again. During the purging process, the fuel cell stack does not output power.

[0004] However, after the fuel cell shuts down for a short time, for example, when the vehicle stops at a red light at an intersection or starts the fuel cell again after a temporary stop, the anode of the fuel cell is always purged for a fixed anode purging duration. This can cause the fuel cell to be unable to start the vehicle or respond quickly to the driver's startup demand, which may result in a sluggish feeling of vehicle startup and affect the user experience.

[0005] In addition, since hydrogen is used to purge the anode for a fixed duration, it is impossible to adjust the hydrogen purging amount according to different shutdown situations, which leads to waste of the hydrogen used for purging.

[0006] Therefore, in view of many deficiencies in the prior art, there is still a need to improve the above solutions. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In order to overcome one of the above disadvantages and / or other possible disadvantages in the prior art not mentioned herein, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved anode purging method for a fuel cell for a vehicle, a corresponding improved anode purging system, an improved fuel cell, and a computer program product.

[0008] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an anode purging method for a fuel cell for a vehicle, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell, wherein, when the fuel cell is started for the first time, anode purging is performed for a preset anode purging duration, and the anode purging method includes the following steps:

[0009] S110: Detect the power-on state of the vehicle;

[0010] S120: When the vehicle is in the power-on state, detect the shutdown duration of the fuel cell after startup;

[0011] S130: Adapt the anode purge duration when the fuel cell restarts considering the shutdown duration.

[0012] The basic concept of the present invention is that through an improved logic design, when the vehicle is powered on, the anode purge duration when the fuel cell restarts is adaptively adjusted according to the (temporary) shutdown duration of the fuel cell, so as to be able to adapt the response time of the fuel cell power output to different shutdown (vehicle) conditions of the fuel cell or the vehicle, improve the user experience and save the hydrogen consumption for anode purge.

[0013] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an anode purge system for a fuel cell of a vehicle, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell.

[0014] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fuel cell for a vehicle, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell, the fuel cell including the anode purge system of the present invention.

[0015] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product, in particular a computer-readable storage medium, the computer program product including computer instructions, which are at least used to assist in implementing the anode purge method of the present invention when executed by a processor.

[0016] Advantageous configurations of the technical solution of the present invention can be obtained from the optional embodiments.

[0017] More features of the present invention become apparent from the claims, the drawings and the description of the drawings. The features and combinations of features mentioned in the above description and the features and combinations of features mentioned and / or only shown in the following drawings of the drawings can be used not only in the corresponding specified combinations, but also in other combinations without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following is also regarded as covered and disclosed by the present invention: These contents are not explicitly shown in the drawings and not explicitly explained, but are composed of combinations of separated features derived from the explained contents and are produced by these combinations. The following contents and combinations of features are also regarded as disclosed: Those that do not have all the features of the originally written independent claims. In addition, the following contents and combinations of features are regarded as particularly disclosed by the above contents: Those that exceed or deviate from the combinations of features defined in the citation relationship of the claims. Description of the Drawings

[0018] Other alternative details and features of the present invention are obtained from the description of the preferred embodiments schematically shown in the following drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 The flowchart of an anode purge method for a fuel cell used in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0020] Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the control strategy of the anode purge method of the fuel cell is shown. Detailed Description of the Invention

[0021] In order to make the technical problems to be solved, technical solutions and beneficial technical effects of the present invention clearer and more understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings and multiple exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, and are not used to limit the protection scope of the present invention.

[0022] Without conflict, the features in the embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other. In different drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and for the sake of brevity, other components are omitted, but this does not mean that the technical solutions of the present invention cannot include other components. It should be understood that the dimensions, proportional relationships and the number of components in the drawings are not limitations to the present invention.

[0023] In the prior art, the anode and cathode of a hydrogen fuel cell need to be purged when restarting after shutdown. When purging the anode of the hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen is used to purge the anode region, so as to purge the substances in the anode flow channel, such as air and moisture infiltrated from the cathode, and fill the flow channel with hydrogen. Thus, "air-air start" during the restart of the fuel cell is prevented.

[0024] However, in the prior art, the anode is always purged with a fixed anode purge duration for each start. On the one hand, this cannot meet the user's rapid response to power demand when restarting the fuel cell after a temporary stop. On the other hand, the fixed anode purge duration results in excessive consumption of hydrogen for anode purge.

[0025] Therefore, in view of the disadvantages of the prior art, the embodiments of the technical solutions of the present invention will be explained in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.

[0026] Figure 1 The flowchart of an anode purge method 100 for a fuel cell used in a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The anode purge method of this embodiment exemplarily includes method steps S110 to S130.

[0027] In this embodiment, the vehicle is configured as a vehicle driven by a fuel cell. The fuel cell is exemplarily configured as a proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell. Since the structure and working principle of the hydrogen fuel cell are already well-known in the prior art, they will not be described in detail in the present invention.

[0028] As Figure 1 shown, in method step S110, the power-on state T15 of the vehicle is detected. In the present invention, the "power-on state" can be understood as the driver inserting the vehicle key into the key switch of the vehicle. This means that when the vehicle is powered on, the vehicle control unit VCU is "awakened" and can control various components of the vehicle through the vehicle bus CAN.

[0029] In method step S120, in the state where the vehicle is powered on, the shutdown duration of the fuel cell after startup is detected. In the case of powering on the vehicle again after it has been powered off, for example, when the driver goes home and restarts the vehicle the next day, the fuel cell starts up for the first time and performs anode purge for a preset anode purge duration T. The preset anode purge duration T is stored, for example, in the fuel cell control unit FCCU.

[0030] When the driver makes a temporary stop, for example, the fuel cell shuts down and does not output power (no electrochemical reaction occurs). During the shutdown of the fuel cell, the shutdown duration of the fuel cell is detected or recorded.

[0031] Next, in method step S130, the anode purge duration when the fuel cell restarts is adapted in consideration of the detected shutdown duration.

[0032] In this embodiment, depending on the fuel cell shutdown duration, the anode purge duration when the fuel cell restarts can be adapted or changed. Thereby, it is possible to respond particularly flexibly and adaptively to the user's power output requirements for the fuel cell. In addition, the adaptive change of the anode purge duration can also adapt the hydrogen consumption of the anode purge, thereby saving hydrogen consumption and improving economy.

[0033] Next, in combination with Figure 2 the embodiments of the anode purge method 100 of the present invention are further elaborated.

[0034] Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the control strategy of the anode purge method 100 of the fuel cell. As Figure 2As shown, the X-Y coordinates are shown, where the X coordinate represents time, and the Y coordinates represent the vehicle state T15, the stack state, and the stack start-up count N respectively. Here, T15 represents the power-on state of the vehicle, and the stack start-up count N represents the number of times the stack restarts after each shutdown. In the stack state, the working state on and the shutdown state off of the stack are given. Here, the shutdown duration during each shutdown of the fuel cell stack is marked with the time Δt exemplarily.

[0035] Also in combination with Figure 1 , according to an embodiment, in method step S110, the power-on state T15 of the vehicle is detected. The power-on state T15 of the vehicle is shown in the form of a potential in Figure 2 , and at time point t1, the driver inserts the car key into the key switch, for example, the vehicle is powered on and T15 = on. Here, the vehicle controller VCU can control each component of the vehicle through the vehicle bus CAN.

[0036] According to this embodiment, when the vehicle is started for the first time, the anode purge is performed for a preset anode purge duration T. Here, the preset anode purge duration T is, for example, 10 s and is stored in the fuel cell controller FCCU. As Figure 2 shown, in the state where the vehicle is powered on, the fuel cell stack is started for the first time at time point t2. Here, the anode of the fuel cell is purged with hydrogen for a preset anode purge duration T, for example, 10 s. During this anode purge process, no electrochemical reaction occurs in the fuel cell stack and no power (electric energy) is output. The fuel cell stack start-up count N = 1.

[0037] In method step S120, the shutdown duration after the fuel cell is started is detected in the state where the vehicle is powered on.

[0038] According to an embodiment, the shutdown duration Δt after the first start of the fuel cell is detected. As Figure 2 shown, Δt = t4 - t3. According to this embodiment, a first reference shutdown duration t r1 is set, and this first reference shutdown duration t r1 represents the reference shutdown duration for the fuel cell to shut down once. Exemplarily, t r1 is 60 s. In this embodiment, if Δt is less than t r1 , then in method step S130, when the fuel cell stack is started for the second time N = 2, the anode purge is performed for a time less than the preset anode purge duration T, thereby shortening the purge time and correspondingly reducing the amount of hydrogen used for purging. If Δt is greater than or equal to t r1, in method step S130, when the fuel cell stack is started for the second time with N = 2, the anode purge is performed for the preset anode purge duration T. Thus, the corresponding anode purge duration is adapted to different shutdown durations, which improves the response speed to the driver's vehicle start and power output requirements. For example, the driver gets a quick power response when stepping on the accelerator pedal, improving the user experience.

[0039] According to one embodiment, the anode purge duration T(N) is adapted in a manner proportional to the preset anode purge duration. That is, for example, if Δt (t4 - t3) is less than t r1 , when the fuel cell stack is started for the second time with N = 2, the anode purge duration is adapted to T(2) = a·T, where a is a ratio and is greater than 0 and less than 1. In this embodiment, the ratio a can be preset.

[0040] According to a further embodiment, the ratio a is the ratio of each shutdown duration Δt to the first reference shutdown duration t r1 . Therefore, when the fuel cell stack is started for the second time with N = 2, the anode purge duration is T(2) = (t4 - t3)·T / t r1 . Exemplarily, if it is detected that t4 - t3 = 30s, and t r1 = 60s, T = 10s, then the anode purge duration when the fuel cell is started for the second time is shortened to 5s.

[0041] That is, the shorter the shutdown duration of the fuel cell each time, the shorter the anode purge duration when the fuel cell is restarted. This realizes adapting the anode purge duration of the current start according to the previous shutdown duration, thereby being able to further save the hydrogen consumption while preventing "air - air start".

[0042] In this embodiment, method steps S110 to S130 of the method 100 of the present invention can be repeatedly executed for each shutdown (start) of the fuel cell. According to this embodiment, the adaptation of the anode purge duration at the current start is based on the previous shutdown duration.

[0043] For another example Figure 2 as shown, for example, the fuel cell shuts down at time point t5 after the second start and the shutdown duration is Δt = t6 - t5. As Figure 2 visually shown, the shutdown duration of the fuel cell for the second time is significantly greater than that for the first time, and exemplarily greater than the first reference shutdown duration t r1 , so when the fuel cell is started for the third time with N = 3, the anode purge is performed for the preset anode purge duration T(3) = T.

[0044] Also as Figure 2 shown, for the case where N = 4 at the fourth start-up after the fuel cell is shut down, the shutdown duration Δt = t8 - t7, as Figure 2 intuitively shown, this shutdown duration is much smaller than the previous shutdown duration, which means that the driver only stops for a short time, for example, waiting for pedestrians to cross the road in front of a crosswalk. According to another embodiment, a second reference shutdown duration t r2 . In method step S130, by additionally comparing the shutdown duration Δt with t r1 and t r2 respectively to adapt the anode purge duration T(N) during subsequent start-ups. In this embodiment, t r2 is less than t r1 . Exemplarily, this second reference shutdown duration t r2 is 5 s. If Δt (t8 - t7) is less than t r2 = 5 s, then in method step S130, no anode purge is performed at the fourth start-up (time point t8) of the fuel cell. This further improves the power response speed of the fuel cell in a flexible and adaptable manner, enhances the user experience and further saves the hydrogen purge consumption.

[0045] In Figure 2 , at time point t10, the vehicle is powered off T15 = off. Therefore, the method of the present invention ends, and the anode purge duration T(N) is reset to the preset anode purge duration T, and the number of stack start-ups N is reset to 0.

[0046] The present invention also protects an anode purge system for a fuel cell, especially a hydrogen fuel cell, which can implement the above anode purge method 100. In addition, the present invention also protects a fuel cell including the above anode purge system, especially a hydrogen fuel cell.

[0047] The technical solution of the present invention is exemplarily applied to vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells. However, other application fields of fuel cells can also be considered as long as the technical concept of the present invention is used and the corresponding technical advantages are achieved.

[0048] In this specification, expressions such as "first", "second", etc. are only for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, nor should they be construed as implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood according to the circumstances.

Claims

1. A method (100) for purging an anode of a fuel cell, especially a hydrogen fuel cell, for a vehicle, wherein: When the fuel cell is started for the first time, the anode is purged with a preset anode purge duration (T). The anode purge method comprises (100) the following steps: S110: Detecting the power-on status of the vehicle; S120: When the vehicle is powered on, detecting a shutdown duration (Δt) of the fuel cell after startup; S130: Adapting the anode purge duration (T(N)) when the fuel cell is restarted by taking the shutdown duration (Δt) into consideration.

2. The anode purging method (100) according to claim 1, wherein: A first reference downtime duration (t r1 ), If the detected downtime duration (Δt) is less than the first reference downtime duration (t r1 ), then in method step S130, the anode purge is performed with an anode purge duration (T(N)) that is less than the pre-set anode purge duration (T); and / or If the detected downtime duration (Δt) is greater than or equal to the first reference downtime duration (t r1 ), then in method step S130, the anode purge is performed with the preset anode purge duration (T).

3. The anode purging method (100) according to claim 2, wherein: In method step S130 , the anode purge duration (T(N)) is adapted in proportion to the predefined anode purge duration (T).

4. The anode purging method (100) according to claim 3, wherein: The ratio is the ratio of each detected downtime duration (Δt) to the first reference downtime duration (t r1 ) ratio.

5. The anode purging method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: Method steps S110 to S130 are repeatedly performed.

6. The anode purging method (100) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein: A second reference downtime duration (t r2 ), the second reference downtime duration (t r2 ) is less than the first reference downtime duration (t r1 ), if the detected downtime duration (Δt) is less than the second reference downtime duration (t r2 ), then no anode purge is performed in S130.

7. The anode purging method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The adaptation of the anode purge duration (T(N)) at this startup is performed based on the last shutdown duration (Δt).

8. The anode purging method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: The anode of the fuel cell is purged with hydrogen.

9. The anode purging method according to claim 8, wherein: The preset anode purge duration (T) is 10s; and / or The first reference downtime duration (t r1 ) is 60s; and / or The second reference downtime duration (t r2 ) is 5s.

10. An anode purge system for a fuel cell, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell, of a vehicle, the anode purge system being configured to implement the anode purge method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

11. A fuel cell for a vehicle, in particular a hydrogen fuel cell, the fuel cell comprising the anode purge system according to claim 10. 12 . A computer program product, in particular a computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions, which are used to assist in implementing the anode purging method according to claim 1 when executed by a processor.

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