US 12,746,825 B2 · Method and system for estimating flight time of a hydrogen fuel cell UAV

Abstract

A method for estimating a flight time of a hydrogen fuel cell UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) includes multiple steps performed by a controller: obtaining an internal pressure of a hydrogen tank by a pressure sensor installed on the hydrogen tank, calculating a remaining hydrogen volume according to the internal pressure and a capacity of the hydrogen tank, obtaining a reaction current value of the fuel cell, calculating a first hydrogen consumption rate according to the reaction current value, the number of a set of membrane electrodes connected in series and a Faraday constant, obtaining a second hydrogen consumption rate of a purge operation of an anode of the full cell; obtaining a hydrogen leakage rate of a stack of the fuel cell, and calculating the flight time according to the remaining hydrogen volume, the first hydrogen consumption rate, the second hydrogen consumption rate and the hydrogen leakage rate.

Claims6

Dependent claims

A method for estimating a flight time of a hydrogen fuel cell unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising a plurality of steps performed by a controller, wherein the plurality of steps comprises:

obtaining an internal pressure of a hydrogen tank by a pressure sensor installed on the hydrogen tank;
calculating a remaining hydrogen volume according to the internal pressure and a capacity of the hydrogen tank;
obtaining a reaction current value of a fuel cell;
calculating a first hydrogen consumption rate according to the reaction current value, a number of a set of membrane electrodes connected in series and a Faraday constant;
obtaining a second hydrogen consumption rate of a purge operation of an anode of the full cell;
obtaining a hydrogen leakage rate of a stack of the fuel cell;
and
calculating the flight time according to the remaining hydrogen volume, the first hydrogen consumption rate, the second hydrogen consumption rate and the hydrogen leakage rate.

5 more elements

A hydrogen fuel cell system for flight time estimation, comprising:

a hydrogen tank configured to store hydrogen;
a pressure sensor disposed in the hydrogen tank and configured to obtain an internal pressure of the hydrogen tank;
a fuel cell stack coupled to the hydrogen tank for obtaining the hydrogen to perform a power-generating reaction, wherein the fuel cell stack has an anode to perform a purge operation;
a control circuit electrically connected to the fuel cell stack and configured to obtain a reaction current value of the power-generating reaction;
and
a controller electrically connected to the pressure sensor and the control circuit, wherein the controller is configured to:
calculating a remaining hydrogen volume according to the internal pressure and a capacity of the hydrogen tank;
calculating a first hydrogen consumption rate according to the reaction current value, a number of a set of membrane electrodes connected in series and a Faraday constant;
and
calculating the flight time according to the remaining hydrogen volume, the first hydrogen consumption rate, a second hydrogen consumption rate associated with the purge operation and a hydrogen leakage rate of the fuel cell stack.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method and system for estimating flight time of a hydrogen fuel cell UAV

Life of this patent

Method and system for estimating flight time of a hydrogen fuel cell UAV

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims6