Spectral method for PEMFC operation mode monitoring based on electrical fluctuation analysis

Abstract

This work considers the possibility of applying electrochemical noise analysis to fuel cell diagnostics. Theoretical hypothesis and experimental result have shown that spectral characteristics of electrical fluctuations depend on water management processes inside the PEMFC. It has been established that the spectrum of electrical fluctuations in low frequency range has the nature of flicker noise. The frequency ranges of 0.1-1 Hz convenient for single cell as well as for stack diagnostics are revealed. The results show that the proposed approach can be considered as an effective tool to diagnose of fuel cells, namely allowing for prediction of drying and flooding.