Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to fuel cells or other automotive HVDC sources, and more particularly to a y-capacitor discharge fault current compensation system for fuel cell stacks.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Fuel cell stacks operate at relatively high voltage levels and higher temperatures. The fuel cell system includes a high voltage direct current (HVDC) bus that provides power from the fuel cell stacks to a load. The HVDC bus is subject to electromagnetic interference (EMI), which detrimentally effects the performance of the fuel cell system. Y-capacitors (Y-caps) are incorporated to protect the HVDC bus from EMI. The Y-caps bridge the positive and/or negative DC to chassis or safety ground.  
         [0003]     In the event of a fault contact, the Y-caps discharge through the resistance of the fault contact. For example, when a person touches either the positive or negative nodes of the HVDC bus and chassis or safety ground, the Y-caps discharge through the body of the person. As a result, the capacitance of the Y-caps must be limited to ensure that the energy released in the event of a fault contact is within safe limits. Because the Y-caps are limited, the ability to protect against EMI is correspondingly limited.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Accordingly, the present invention provides a fuel cell system that includes a fuel cell having a high voltage direct current (HVDC) bus and a fault current discharge compensation circuit interconnected with the HVDC bus. The HVDC bus includes a Y-capacitance (Y-cap) circuit that bridges the positive and/or negative HVDC terminals to chassis or safety ground. A monitoring circuit monitors a fault discharge current of the Y-cap circuit and generates a fault signal when the fault current occurs. A switching circuit redirects the fault discharge current based on a rate of change of a voltage of the Y-cap circuit.  
         [0005]     In one feature, the Y-cap circuit bridges positive and negative terminals of the HVDC bus to chassis or safety ground.  
         [0006]     In another feature, the monitoring circuit generates the fault signal based on the rate of change of the output voltage of the HVDC bus terminals with respect to chassis or safety ground.  
         [0007]     In another feature, the fault signal is based on the fault discharge current.  
         [0008]     In another feature, the switching circuit includes an operational amplifier that generates an output signal. A first switch selectively enables an alternate path from HVDC negative to ground for the fault discharge current based on the output signal. A second switch selectively enables an alternate path from HVDC positive to ground for the fault discharge current based on the output signal. When a fault condition is generated at a positive terminal of the HVDC bus, the op-amp signals the second switch to enable the alternate path. When a fault condition is generated at a negative terminal of the HVDC bus, the op-amp signals the first switch to enable the alternate path.  
         [0009]     Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is an electrical schematic of a high voltage (HV) bus including Y-capacitors;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is an electrical schematic of the HV bus incorporating a Y-capacitor (Y-cap) discharge compensation circuit according to the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a graph illustrating fault discharge currents according to the present invention; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is an electrical schematic of the HV bus incorporating an active isolation circuit according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]     The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses. For purposes of clarity, the same reference designations will be used in the drawings to identify similar elements.  
         [0016]     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a fuel cell system  10  includes a high voltage direct current (HVDC) power bus  12  and a fuel cell stack  14 . The fuel cell stack  14  is represented as two voltage sources V 1  and V 2 . Exemplary values for V 1  and V 2  are 200V, although other values may be used. Assuming 200V for V 1  and V 2 , the total voltage across the fuel cell stack  14  is 400V. The fuel cell stack  14  includes coolant flowing through manifolds. Since the coolant can be conductive (not a perfect electrical insulator), the coolant forms resistive paths from the fuel cell through the coolant tubes towards grounded metallic parts of the coolant system (e.g. vehicle front radiator). The coolant inlet/exit is indicated as parallel resistors R c . Exemplary values for the resistors R c  are 20 kΩ each or 10 kΩ total.  
         [0017]     The HVDC power bus  12  includes positive and negative nodes (HV+ and HV−, respectively) and a capacitor circuit  16 . Given the exemplary values of V 1  and V 2  and assuming the voltage balance is symmetrical, HV+ is at +200V and HV− is at −200V. The capacitor circuit includes capacitors C 1 , C 2  and C 3 . C 1  is called X-capacitor and bridges HV+ and HV−. C 2  and C 3  are called Y-capacitors and bridge HV+ to chassis or safety ground or HV− to chassis or safety ground. Capacitors can be distributed across multiple electric devices connected to the HVDC bus and are represented as lumped single capacitors here. Exemplary values for C 1 , C 2  and C 3  are 3000 μF, 5 μF and 5 μF, respectively. The Y-capacitors C 2 ,C 3  protects the HVDC power bus  12  from electromagnetic interference (EMI).  
         [0018]     A typical fault contact, for example a human body, is indicated as a fault resistance R FAULT . Although the fault contact is shown at HV+, the fault contact can also occur at HV− or at any intermediate voltage. An exemplary value for R FAULT  is 1 kΩ. As a result of the fault contact, a discharge current causes the Y-cap circuit  16  to discharge through R FAULT  to ground. The energy in the Y-cap circuit that is dissipated during the fault contact is equal to ½CV 2 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , which is discussed in further detail below, the typical discharge current immediately peaks upon fault contact and then gradually decreases to under 25 mA, given the exemplary values provided herein. The area beneath the typical discharge current curve indicates the energy that is dissipated through R FAULT  (e.g., human body).  
         [0019]     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a fuel cell system  20  includes a high voltage direct current (HVDC) power bus  22  and a fuel cell stack  24 . The fuel cell stack  24  is represented as two voltage sources V 1  and V 2 . Exemplary values for V 1  and V 2  are 200V, although other values may be used. Assuming 200V for V 1  and V 2 , the total voltage across the fuel cell stack  24  is 400V. The fuel cell stack.  24  includes coolant flowing through manifolds, which is indicated as parallel resistors R 1  and R 4 . Exemplary values for R 1  and R 4  are 22 kΩ and 18 kΩ, respectively. The coolant is provided by a coolant system  26  as indicated by parallel resistors R 9  and R 8 . Exemplary values for R 9  and R 8  are 10 kΩ each. R 9  and R 8  are in respective series connection with R 1  and R 4 . The coolant represented by R 8  and R 9  are in contact with chassis or safety ground through metallic coolant loop members (e.g. radiator).  
         [0020]     The HVDC power bus  22  includes positive and negative nodes (HV+ and HV−, respectively) and a capacitor circuit  28 . Given the exemplary values of V 1  and V 2  and assuming that the voltage balance is symmetrical, HV+ is at +200V and HV− is at −200V. The cap circuit  28  includes capacitors C 8 , C 1  and C 2 . Exemplary values for C 8 , C 1  and C 2  are 3000 μF, 5 μF and 5 μF, respectively. The cap-circuit  28  protects the HVDC power bus from electromagnetic interference (EMI). The Y-capacitors C 2 ,C 3  bridges the HVDC power bus to a vehicle chassis (not shown) or safety ground.  
         [0021]     A Y-cap discharge compensation circuit  29  bridges the HVDC power bus  22  and includes a monitoring circuit  30  and a switching circuit  32 . The monitoring circuit  30  includes capacitors C 11 , C 12  and C 13  and resistors R Y-CAP , R 18 , R 19 , R 21 , and R 22 . Exemplary values for C 11 , C 12  and C 13  include 1 μF each. An exemplary value for R Y-CAP  includes 100 Ω and exemplary values for R 18 , R 19 , R 21  and R 22  include 5 kΩ each.  
         [0022]     The switching circuit  32  includes an operational amplifier (op-amp)  34 , a first n-Channel MOSFET transistor switch S 1  and a second p-Channel MOSFET transistor S 2 . The op-amp  34  includes a positive input  36  that is connected to ground. An output  38  is connected to S 1  and S 2 . A negative input  40  is connected to the monitoring circuit and the output through a capacitor C 7  and a resistor R 7 . S 1  includes a gate input  42  that is connected to the op-amp output  38 . An input  46  (Drain) is connected to HV− through a resistor R 17  and an output  48  (Source) is connected to ground through a resistor R INJ . S 2  includes a gate input  50  that is connected to the op-amp output  38 . An input (Drain)  54  is connected to HV+ through a resistor R 16  and an output  56  (Source) is connected to ground through the resistor R INJ . Exemplary values for R 16  and R 17  include 50 Ω each and an exemplary value for R INJ  includes 10 Ω. S 1  and S 2  function as switches. When in a conductive state, S 1  and S 2  provide an alternate current path from the HVDC bus terminals to ground through R INJ  and R 16  or R  17 .  
         [0023]     In operation, the monitoring circuit  30  provides current to the switching circuit  32  indicating a discharge current of the Y-capacitors C 2 ,C 3  circuit  28 . More particularly, the monitoring circuit  30  monitors the rate of change of voltage (dV/dt) of the HVDC bus terminals with respect to chassis or safety ground. If dV/dt of the HVDC bus terminals is greater than a threshold level, a fault discharge current situation is indicated. That is to say, the Y-capacitors C 2  or C 3  are being caused to discharge by a fault contact such as a person touching either HV+, HV− or any intermediate voltage point.  
         [0024]     The op-amp  34  receives the current signal from the monitoring circuit  30 . More particularly, the dV/dt signal is generated by the differentiating capacitor-resistor network that includes R Y-CAP  and C 12 . The dV/dt signal is filtered and smoothed by R 21  and C 13 . The filtered signal causes the output  38  of the Op-Amp to change to positive or negative depending on the sign of dV/dt, which depends on the fault location being on the positive or negative HVDC bus terminal. If the OpAmp output exceeds the turn on gate threshold voltage of the MOSFET switches S 1  (e.g. −5V) or S 2  (e.g. +5V), it causes S 1  or S 2  to turn on, which redirects the main fault discharge current path. For example, in the event of a fault at HV+, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the op-amp output closes S 2  to create a discharge path to ground through R 16  and R INJ . As a result, the energy of the Y-cap circuit  28  is dissipated mainly through R 16  and R INJ  instead of through R FAULT . Similarly, in the event of a fault at HV−, the op-amp output closes S 1  to create a discharge path to ground through R 17  and R INJ .  
         [0025]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a graph illustrates Y-cap fault discharge currents according to the present invention. Typical discharge currents for conventional circuits are illustrated by the dashed lines. The discharge current for the discharge compensation circuit  29  of the present invention is illustrated by the solid line. The discharge current drops more rapidly. Additionally, the area under each of the curves indicates the amount of energy dissipated through R FAULT . A significantly decreased amount of energy is dissipated through R FAULT  using the discharge compensation circuit  29 .  
         [0026]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , the fuel cell system  20  includes an active isolation circuit  60 . The active isolation circuit includes ground fault current sensors  62 ,  64  that are associated with the coolant. The fault sensors  62 ,  64  are connected to the inverting input  40  of the op-amp  34  and ground through resistors R S1  and R S2 , respectively. The fault sensors  62 ,  64  measure net fault current flowing through all coolant resistant paths of the fuel cell system  20 . Although the fuel cell system  20  of  FIG. 4  is shown to include both the Y-cap discharge compensation circuit  29  and the active isolation circuit  60  together, the function of the active isolation circuit  60  can be achieved using the active isolation circuit  60  and the switching circuit  32  alone.  
         [0027]     In the event of a sufficient fault current through the coolant resistance paths, the active isolation circuit  60  signals the switching circuit  32  to provide a discharge path to ground. For example, when a sufficient negative fault current is detected by the fault sensor  64  or  62 , the op-amp output closes S 2  to create a discharge path to ground through R 16 +R INJ . As a result, the fault current is forced towards 0 mA. Similarly, when a sufficient positive fault current is detected by the fault sensor  62  or  64 , the op-amp output closes S1 to create a discharge path to ground through R 17  and R INJ , again resulting in the fault current being forced towards 0 mA.  
         [0028]     The active isolation circuit  29  supports a fuel cell stack coolant scheme that includes a low conductivity coolant entering and exiting the fuel cell stack  24 . Furthermore, implementation of the active isolation circuit  29  requires the use of isolated or non-conductive coolant manifolds or non-conductive coolant entrance and exit areas to form a high resistance path upstream and downstream of the fault sensors  62 ,  64 .  
         [0029]     Those skilled in the art can now appreciate from the foregoing description that the broad teachings of the current invention can be implemented in a variety of forms. Therefore, while this invention has been described in connection with particular examples thereof, the true scope of the invention should not be so limited since other modifications will become apparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings, the specification and the following claims.

Technology Category: 5