Fault Diagnosis Review of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Systems: Fault Mechanisms, Detection and Identification, and Fault Mitigation

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has become a hotspot due to its high efficiency, compact structure, and good dynamic operation efficiency. However, problems such as poor reliability and short lifespan create bottlenecks in its large‐scale applications. There has been a large amount of research on fault diagnosis and health management techniques dedicated to addressing the lifespan issues of PEMFC systems. This article provides an in‐depth analysis on the fault mechanism of PEMFC and systematically sorts out the types, causes, and impacts of faults. On this basis, the research progress of PEMFC fault diagnosis technology is summarized, and the measurement characterization methods for fuel cell status monitoring and fault detection are summarized. The literatures of model‐based and data‐driven fault identification methods are summarized and compared. The relevant mitigation measures for PEMFC faults are discussed. Finally, based on the challenges in the current research of fault diagnosis, people mainly conduct research on fault model, online diagnostic technology, and improving diagnostic mechanisms. Overall, this article can provide useful summary and guidance for future research.