A New, Scalable and Low Cost Multi-Channel Monitoring System for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Abstract

In this work a new, scalable and low cost multi-channel monitoring system for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFCs) has been designed, constructed and experimentally validated. This developed monitoring system performs non-intrusive voltage measurement of each individual cell of a PEFC stack and it is scalable, in the sense that it is capable to carry out measurements in stacks from 1 to 120 cells (from watts to kilowatts). The developed system comprises two main subsystems: hardware devoted to data acquisition (DAQ) and software devoted to real-time monitoring. The DAQ subsystem is based on the low-cost open-source platform Arduino and the real-time monitoring subsystem has been developed using the high-level graphical language NI LabVIEW. Such integration can be considered a novelty in scientific literature for PEFC monitoring systems. An original amplifying and multiplexing board has been designed to increase the Arduino input port availability. Data storage and real-time monitoring have been performed with an easy-to-use interface. Graphical and numerical visualization allows a continuous tracking of cell voltage. Scalability, flexibility, easy-to-use, versatility and low cost are the main features of the proposed approach. The system is described and experimental results are presented. These results demonstrate its suitability to monitor the voltage in a PEFC at cell level.

Consideraciones sobre la utilización del microcontrolador Arduino como sistema de adquisición de datos

“…Una vez que la tarjeta microSD se acopla al zócalo de la shield Ethernet se inicializa. Este proceso consiste en asignar el pin 4 a la tarjeta microSD por medio de la función SD.begin (4). Si esta función no devuelve ningún error (valor devuelto igual a 0), se pueden utilizar las instrucciones específicas para esta tarjeta.…”

“…[11]. A nivel científico y académico, Arduino actúa tanto como componente nuclear como auxiliar en múltiples aplicaciones en campos como la automática, la adquisición de datos y la ingeniería en general [4]. Su versatilidad queda demostrada en numerosas y recientes publicaciones.…”

“…Por ejemplo, fuera de la esfera de la adquisición de datos, se usa para robótica humanoide [6], sistemas de laboratorio para educación en ingeniería [7,15,20,24], comunicaciones en el protocolo ZigBee [18], sistemas ciber-físicos [10,16], control de invernaderos [22] o como interfaz entre autómatas programables y sensores [13]. Respecto a la adquisición de datos, se utiliza en instrumentación para agricultura [14,19], monitorización medioambiental [2,5,8], y para monitorizar sistemas energéticos como paneles fotovoltaicos [9,21], producción de biogás [3], o pilas de combustible de hidrógeno [4,23].…”

Novel Networked Remote Laboratory Architecture for Open Connectivity Based on PLC-OPC-LabVIEW-EJS Integration. Application in Remote Fuzzy Control and Sensors Data Acquisition

“…As it is noted, the LabVIEW package is a versatile tool extensively applied for data acquisition and monitoring purposes in diverse technological and scientific fields [81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90]. Furthermore, LabVIEW is very often used in RLs devoted to control and automation.…”

Easy Handling of Sensors and Actuators over TCP/IP Networks by Open Source Hardware/Software

“…Some examples of recent applications based on these devices are now discussed. Real-time monitoring of fuel cells using LabVIEW [53] and Arduino is reported in [54,55]. Applications in solar energy facilities are presented in [56,57].…”