A Comprehensive Review on Condition Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis in Fuel Cell Systems: Challenges and Issues

Abstract

The complexity of Fuel Cell (FC) systems demands a profound and sustained understanding of the various phenomena occurring inside of it. Thus far, FCs, especially Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), have been recognized as being among the most promising technologies for reducing Green House Gas (GHG) emissions because they can convert the chemical energy bonded to hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and heat. However, their efficiency remains limited. To enhance their efficiency, two distinct factors are suggested. First, the quality of materials plays a significant role in the development of more robust and efficient FCs. Second, the ability to identify, mitigate, and reduce the occurrence of faults through the use of robust control algorithms is crucial. Therefore, more focused on the second point, this paper compiles, distinguishes, and analyzes several publications from the past 25 years related to faults and their diagnostic techniques in FCs. Furthermore, the paper presents various schemes outlining different symptoms, their causes, and corresponding fault algorithms.

Keywords

• fuel cell system
• proton exchange membrane
• open-cathode fuel cells
• fault identification
• fault mitigation
• robust control algorithms