Vehicle application for air storage cathode carbon loss estimation

1. A method for using an estimation of an amount of carbon support loss in fuel cells of a fuel cell stack in a vehicle, said method comprising:

providing a controller in the vehicle that is programmed for:

estimating an amount of time that a hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero;

calculating an amount of carbon loss based on the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero;

adding the amount of carbon loss that occurs each time the vehicle is in an off-state and the hydrogen concentration is zero to give a total cathode carbon loss estimation; and

taking remedial actions if the total carbon loss estimation is greater than a predetermined carbon loss limit, wherein the remedial actions include voltage recovery with mitigation strategies, hydrogen addition after shutdown and reconditioning of the fuel cell stack.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein estimating an amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is equal to zero occurs when the vehicle is in an off-state.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein determining an amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is equal to zero includes using a gas concentration model.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero ends when a vehicle key-on request occurs.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein calculating the amount of carbon loss based on the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero includes using:

Event

⁢

⁢

C

⁢

⁢

Loss

=

M

C

4

⁢

F

⁢

∫

0

t

⁢

i

COR

⁢

ⅆ

t

where

i

COR

=

i

0

⁢

ⅇ

-

E

a

R

⁢

(

1

T

-

1

T

ref

)

⁢

ⅇ

α

⁢

⁢

F

RT

⁢

η

⁢

t

-

m

,

M c is 12.0107 g carbon /mol carbon , F is 96485C/mol e − , R is 8.314 J/mol ·K, t is off time duration (after it is determined that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero), T is off time average temperature, ηis T corrected over-potential, and i o , E a , α, m are material dependent empirically fitted parameters that may depend on (1) the materials used for the carbon support in fuel cells of the fuel cell stack 12, (2) catalyst surface area and (3) catalyst loading.

6. A method for using an estimation of an amount of carbon loss in fuel cells of a fuel cell stack in a vehicle, said method comprising:

providing a controller in the vehicle that is programmed for:

determining that the vehicle is in a vehicle off-state;

estimating an amount of time that a hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero when the vehicle is in the vehicle off-state;

calculating an event carbon loss based on the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero;

adding the event carbon loss to an air storage carbon loss value to determine a total air storage carbon loss; and

causing one or more remedial actions to occur if the amount of the total air storage carbon loss is greater than a predetermined threshold.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the air storage carbon loss value is equal to the sum of all previous event carbon losses or is equal to zero.

8. The method according to claim 6 wherein the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero ends when a vehicle key-on request occurs.

9. The method according to claim 6 wherein estimating an amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is equal to zero includes using a gas concentration model.

10. The method according to claim 6 wherein remedial actions include voltage recovery with mitigation strategies, hydrogen addition after shutdown and reconditioning of the fuel cell stack.

11. The method according to claim 6 further causing the fuel cell stack to operate under drier conditions relative to normal operating conditions if the total air storage carbon loss is greater than the predetermined threshold.

12. A fuel cell system that uses an estimation of an amount of carbon support loss in fuel cells of a fuel cell stack in a vehicle, said system comprising:

a controller programmed to provide:

means for determining that the vehicle is in a vehicle off-state;

means for estimating an amount of time that a hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero when the vehicle is in the vehicle off-state;

means for calculating an event carbon loss based on the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero;

means for adding the event carbon loss to an air storage carbon loss value to determine a total air storage carbon loss; and

means for causing one or more remedial actions to occur if the amount of the total air storage carbon loss is greater than a predetermined threshold.

13. The control system according to claim 12 wherein the means for estimating an amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is equal to zero includes using a gas concentration model.

14. The control system according to claim 12 wherein estimating an amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is equal to zero ends when a vehicle key-on request occurs.

15. The control system according to claim 12 wherein taking one or more remedial actions include voltage recovery with mitigation strategies, hydrogen addition after shutdown and reconditioning of the fuel cell stack.

16. The control system according to claim 15 further comprising means for causing the fuel cell stack to operate under drier conditions relative to normal operating conditions if the total air storage carbon loss is greater than the predetermined threshold.