Environmentally friendly, energy-economic system for testing fuel cell stacks

An environmentally friendly, fuel-economic system for testing a fuel cell, the system comprising:

• a system control unit comprising a controller, a signal acquisition device, an industrial computer and a signal-and-power line;
• a temperature control unit being connected to the system control unit, and comprising a temperature sensor and a temperature controller;
• a fluid supply unit for providing fluid comprising a fuel, an oxidizer and water, the fluid supply unit being connected to the system control unit, and comprising mass flow controllers, a gas humidifier and a piping;
• a heat recovery unit being connected to the system control unit, the fluid supply unit and the fuel cell, and comprising a rear-part heat exchanger for recovering heat of hot gas released from the fuel cell;
• a gas-preheating and reforming unit being connected to the fuel cell, and comprising:
• a heater for executing a second phase of heating the fluid provided from the fluid supply unit;
• and
• a reformer for reforming the fuel;
• a furnace and compressive load unit being connected to the temperature control unit, and comprising:
• a furnace for heating the fuel cell under the control of the temperature controller;
• and
• a compressive load element for exerting a compressive load on the fuel cell;
• an electrical load and performance measurement unit being connected to the system control unit and the fuel cell, and comprising an electrical load machine and an AC impedance analyzer for measuring performance of the fuel cell;
• a gas/pressure analysis unit being connected to the system control unit, the fluid supply unit, the heat recovery unit, the preheating and reforming unit and the fuel cell, and comprising:
• a gas analyzer for analyzing gases released from the reformer, the burner and the fuel cell to evaluate performance of the units, wherein sampling of the gases is executed under the control of the system control unit;
• and
• an absolute/differential pressure sensor for monitoring pressure in a middle segment of the system;
• a gas-cooling and vapor-condensing unit being connected to the fluid supply unit and the gas/pressure analysis unit, and comprising:
• a gas-cooling and vapor-condensing module for cooling the hot gas in a rear segment of the system;
• and
• a condensed water filter and storage tank for filtering and collecting the water for use in the fluid supply unit;
• and
• a security unit for monitoring security in the system and triggering a security procedure in the system control unit, the security unit being connected to the system control unit, and comprising a programmable logic controller operable independent of the system control unit, a hazardous gas sensor and an uninterruptible power supply;
• a human-machine interface being connected to the system control unit, and comprising:
• a display for showing numbers, charts and tables of data processed in the industrial computer;
• and
• a command output device operable for giving commands to the system control unit;
• wherein the controller of the system control unit is used as a control center for the temperature control unit, the fluid supply unit, the heat recovery unit, the load control and performance measurement unit, the gas/pressure analysis unit, the security unit and the human-machine interface.