Issued patent
Fuel Cell Power Management
An issued NASA patent from the Technology Transfer catalog.
About this technology
Overview
An innovation from NASA's Glenn Research Center increases the efficiency and versatility of fuel cell stacks for power generation. When there is a large increase in the power demand from a fuel cell system, the voltage of the fuel cell system decreases, sometimes below the lowest acceptable threshold. To meet the requirements of a fuel cell system, engineers have typically added direct-current-to-direct-current (DC-to-DC) converters that boost the voltage produced at the ends of the fuel cell stack or added additional fuel cell systems to manage the increased power demand. However, adding DC-to-DC converters or additional fuel cell systems increases cost, reduces efficiency, and adds both mass and volume. NASA's innovative technique features multiple power points that connect different numbers of cells in an electrical series to a device connected to the fuel cell system, allowing the fuel cell system to maintain the desired voltage to the device under very large electrical power demand changes. This capability eliminates DC-to-DC converter electronics, thereby reducing cost and simplifying the system.