Assessment of Fuel Cells’ State of Health by Low-Frequency Noise Measurements

Arkadiusz Szewczyk, Łukasz Gaweł, Kazimierz Darowicki and Janusz Smulko
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Arkadiusz Szewczyk: Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Łukasz Gaweł: Department of Electrochemistry, Corrosion and Materials Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Kazimierz Darowicki: Department of Electrochemistry, Corrosion and Materials Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland
Janusz Smulko: Department of Metrology and Optoelectronics, Gdańsk University of Technology, ul. G. Narutowicza 11/12, 80-233 Gdańsk, Poland

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-11

Abstract: We proposed applying low-frequency (flicker) noise in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells under selected loads to assess their state of health. The measurement set-up comprised a precise data acquisition board and was able to record the DC voltage and its random component at the output. The set-up estimated the voltage noise power spectral density at frequencies up to a few hundred mHz. We observed the evolution of the electrical parameters of selected cells of different qualities. We confirmed that flicker noise intensity varied the most (more than 10 times) and preceded changes in the impedance or a drop in the output DC voltage (less than 2 times). The data were observed for current loads (from 0.5 to 32 A) far from the permissible load. We deduce that the method can be utilised in industrial conditions to monitor the state of health of the selected cells by noise analysis. The method can be used in real-time when the flicker noise is measured within the range of a few Hz and requires a reasonable amount of averaging time to estimate its power spectral density. The presented method of flicker noise measurement has considerable potential for use in innovative ways of fuel cell quality monitoring.

Keywords: electrochemical noise; flicker noise; fuel cell; state of health; reliability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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