Testing fuel cells

Greg Reed, Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 4/1/2006

Automotive fuel cells offer significant benefits when compared to petroleum-based combustion engines—and they require test engineers to use a multitude of measurement and inspection systems to validate the new technology. Fuel stacks, fuel chemistry, subsystems, and entire fuel-cell systems require simulation and modeling, materials analysis, and control and monitoring.

The US government's energy bill signed in July 2005 ensures that fuel-cell technology will accelerate. The bill provides for cooperative research and funding by creating the US Council for Automotive Research (USCAR), which includes Ford Motor Co., General Motors, DaimlerChrysler, and the Department of Energy. It also includes incentives for lean-burn technology (such as fuel cells) and tax advantages for hybrid car purchases.

Automotive engineering firms stand to benefit by participating in the development of test technologies. Since fuel cells convert the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, test engineers must monitor and validate such activities as H/O streams, output voltage, current, environmental variables, and power densities. Inevitably, succeeding generations of fuel cells will require even greater efficiencies and demand further refinements to test and measurement activity. As the "hydrogen highway" evolves, construction of a corresponding industry infrastructure guarantees creative challenges for test technologies.