Method and apparatus for monitoring fuel cell performance

A method of monitoring the performance of a plurality of series connected fuel cells comprising:

• a. dividing the fuel cells into at least three groups including a first outer fuel cell group, at least one inner fuel cell group, and a second outer fuel cell group,
• b. measuring the voltage across each fuel cell group,
• c. comparing the normalized measured voltage of said first outer fuel cell group as a reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of the adjacent inner fuel cell group,
• d. comparing in sequence the normalized measured voltage of each inner fuel cell group as a reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of the next adjacent fuel cell group, and
• e. comparing the normalized measured voltage of said second outer fuel cell group as a reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of said first outer fuel cell group.

A method of monitoring the performance of a plurality of electrical series connected fuel cells comprising:

• a. dividing the fuel cells into at least three groups,
• b. measuring the voltage across each fuel cell group,
• c. comparing the normalized measured voltage of each fuel cell group with a first reference voltage equal to a predetermined minimum voltage, and
• d. comparing the normalized measured voltage of one fuel cell group as a second reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of each of the other fuel cell groups.

A method of monitoring the performance of a plurality of electrical series connected fuel cells comprising:

• a. dividing the fuel cells into at least three groups including a first outer fuel cell group, at least one inner fuel cell group, and a second outer fuel cell group,
• b. measureing the voltage across each fuel cell group,
• c. comparing the normalized measured voltage of each fuel cell group with a first reference voltage equal to a predetermined minimum voltage,
• d. comparing the normalized measured voltage of said first outer fuel cell group as a second reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of the adjacent inner fuel cell group,
• e. comparing in sequence the normalized measured voltage of each inner fuel cell group as a second reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of the next adjacent fuel cell group, and
• f. comparing the normalized measured voltage of said second outer fuel cell group as a second reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of said first outer fuel cell group.

A method of monitoring the performance of a plurality of electrical series connected fuel cells comprising:

• a. dividing the fuel cells into at least three groups,
• b. measuring the voltage across each fuel cell group,
• c. comparing the normalized measured voltage of each fuel cell group with a first reference voltage equal to a predetermined minimum voltage,
• d. comparing the normalized measured voltage of each fuel cell group with a second reference voltage equal to the normalized total voltage across the plurality of series connected fuel cells, and
• e. comparing the normalized measured voltage of one fuel cell group as a third reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of each of the other fuel cell groups.

A method of monitoring the performance of a plurality of electrical series connected fuel cells comprising:

• a. dividing the fuel cells into at least three groups including a first outer fuel cell group, at least one inner fuel cell group, and a second outer fuel cell group,
• b. measuring the voltage across each fuel cell group,
• c. comparing the normalized measured voltage of each fuel cell group with a first reference voltage equal to a predetermined minimum voltage,
• d. comparing the normalized measured voltage of each fuel cell group with a second reference voltage equal to the normalized total voltage across the plurality of series connected fuel cells,
• e. comparing the normalized measured voltage of said first outer fuel cell group as a third reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of the adjacent inner fuel cell group,
• f. comparing in sequence the normalized measured voltage of each inner fuel cell group as a third reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of the next adjacent fuel cell group, and
• g. comparing the normalized measured voltage of said second outer fuel cell group as a third reference voltage with the normalized measured voltage of said first outer fuel cell group.