Patent ID: 11894588
Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G  Y | IPC G  H

Claim 12:
13. A fuel cell propulsion system for a motor vehicle, the fuel cell propulsion system comprising:
a fuel cell stack for generating an electrical current with an associated waste heat;
a coolant passage having a coolant section coupled to the fuel cell stack and flowing a coolant through the fuel cell stack for removing the waste heat, with the coolant passage further including an inlet positioned upstream of the coolant section and an outlet positioned downstream of the coolant section;
at least one temperature sensor attached to the coolant passage at the inlet or at the outlet of the coolant section and generating a temperature signal associated with a temperature of the coolant at the inlet or at the outlet;
at least one pressure sensor attached to the coolant section of the coolant passage and generating a pressure signal associated with a pressure drop across the fuel cell stack;
a computer comprising:
at least one processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions such that the at least one processor is programmed to:
determine a feedback correction based on the pressure drop of the coolant across the fuel cell stack and the temperature of the coolant in response to the at least one processor receiving the temperature signal from the at least one temperature sensor and the pressure signal from the at least one pressure sensor, wherein the feedback correction is an adjustment calculated using a proportional integral controller to meet a target flow rate of the coolant; and
generate a pump command signal by summing the feedback correction with a nominal pump command; and

a pump fluidly connected to the coolant passage and operating at a target pump speed for pumping the coolant through the coolant passage at the target flow rate in response to the pump receiving the pump command signal from the at least one processor.