Hydrogen tank pressure flow monitoring

Abstract

A hydrogen tank monitoring system 100 includes a fuel cell system including a fuel cell 110; a fuel tank 111; and first and second sensors 120 which are configured to sense a condition of at least one of the fuel tank or the quantity of hydrogen within the fuel system. A computerized analysis and detection module 140 is in communication with the first and second sensors and cross-checks sensor data from the first sensor with sensor data from the second sensor to detect an abnormal condition within the fuel cell system or the quantity of hydrogen in the fuel cell system. The module may be configured to cross-check sensor data in order to detect sensor failure. The fuel tank may be positioned on an aircraft. The detected abnormal condition could include determining a leak in the fuel tank based on monitoring pressure over time. A method of mapping error conditions of a hydrogen fuel cell system includes identifying a system design of a hydrogen fuel cell system; correlating proper behaviour of the system with at least two measured sensor signals; setting allowable variation limits to the at least two measured sensor signals; and correlating measured sensor signals with desired behaviour.

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