Method and Device for Supporting a Refueling Process of a Vehicle Having a Fuel Cell

Abstract

A device supports a refueling process of a vehicle having a fuel cell, wherein the vehicle is configured to carry out a switch-off process of the fuel cell prior to the refueling process. The device includes a control unit that determines that a refueling process shall be carried out. The control unit also, in response to the determination, performs one or more measures that reduce a delay time period for starting the refueling process caused by the switch-off process of the fuel cell.

Claims

1-11. (canceled)

12. A device for supporting a refueling process of a vehicle having a fuel cell, wherein the vehicle is configured to carry out a switch-off process of the fuel cell prior to the refueling process, the device comprising: a control unit configured to: determine that a refueling process shall be carried out; and to perform, in response to the determination, one or more measures that reduce a delay time period for starting the refueling process caused by the switch-off process of the fuel cell.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the one or more measures includes: preventing an extended winter switch-off process, and/or preventing conditioning of the fuel cell.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the control unit is further configured to, after performing the switch-off process of the fuel cell: check whether the fuel cell has been reactivated no later than the expiration of an allowable maximum time period; and initiate the execution of at least a part of the winter switch-off process and/or the conditioning of the fuel cell, if it is recognized that the fuel cell has not been reactivated within the allowable maximum time period.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the control unit is further configured to: determine temperature information relating to an ambient temperature in an environment of the fuel cell; determine, based on the temperature information, that a winter switch-off process and/or a conditioning of the fuel cell is to be carried out when the fuel cell is switched off for longer than an allowable maximum time period; and to nevertheless prevent the execution of the winter switch-off process and/or the conditioning of the fuel cell, if it has been determined that the refueling process shall be carried out.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein the control unit is configured to: determine that the refueling process shall be carried out at a time period ahead and/or at a location ahead in the direction of travel of the vehicle, wherein the one or more measures includes: causing the switch-off process of the fuel cell to be started before the time period ahead and/or before the location ahead is reached.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the one or more measures includes: causing an electric drive motor of the vehicle to be powered by electric energy from an electric energy storage device of the vehicle from the start of the switch-off process of the fuel cell, in order to move the vehicle to the location ahead for refueling.

18. The device of claims 16, wherein the control unit is further configured to: determine a required switch-off time period for carrying out the switch-off process of the fuel cell; and start the switch-off process at a time and/or at a location dependent on the determined switch-off time period.

19. The device of claim 12, wherein the control unit is further configured to: determine: fill level information relating to a fill level of a fuel tank of the vehicle, navigation information relating to a planned route of travel of the vehicle, usage information relating to a typical usage of the vehicle in the past, sensor data relating to an environment of the vehicle, and/or communication data relating to a communication of the vehicle with a refueling station for the refueling process; and determine, on the basis of the fill level information, the navigation information, the usage information, the sensor data, and/or the communication data, that the refueling process shall be carried out.

20. The device of claim 12, wherein the control unit is further configured to: determine, on the basis of an input by a user at a user interface of the vehicle, that the refueling process shall be carried out.

21. The device of claim 12, wherein the control unit is further configured to: determine information relating to a duration and/or a distance of a journey following the refueling process; and carry out or prevent a reactivation of the fuel cell following the refueling process depending on the determined information.

22. A method for supporting a refueling process of a vehicle having a fuel cell, wherein a switch-off process of the fuel cell is to be carried out prior to the refueling process, wherein the method comprises: determining that a refueling process shall be carried out; and performing, in response to the determination, one or more measures that reduce a delay time period for starting the refueling process caused by the switch-off process of the fuel cell.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] FIG. 1a shows exemplary components of a vehicle;

[0036] FIG. 1b shows an exemplary system for carrying out a refueling process; and

[0037] FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method for carrying out a refueling process of a vehicle having a fuel cell.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0038] As stated at the outset, the present document is concerned with increasing the convenience of a refueling process for refueling the fuel tank of a fuel cell system of a vehicle. In this context, FIG. 1a shows an exemplary vehicle 100. The vehicle 100 comprises a fuel tank 103, in particular a pressure tank, for holding a fuel, in particular hydrogen. The tank 103 can be refueled via a coupling element 102, which, for a refueling process, is configured to be connected to a complementary coupling element 122 on a refueling hose 121 of a refueling station 120 (see FIG. 1b).

[0039] The fuel from the tank 103 can be used to power a fuel cell 104 of the vehicle 100 in order to generate electrical energy that can be stored in an electrical energy storage device 106 of the vehicle 100 and/or that can be used to power an electric drive motor 107 of the vehicle 100.

[0040] Typically, before a refueling process of the tank 103 can be carried out, the fuel cell 104 must first be switched off or disconnected. A switch-off process can be carried out for this purpose. The switch-off process can be designed to place the fuel cell 104 in a switched-off state in which the fuel cell 104 is as protected as possible from detrimental effects caused by environmental degradation.

[0041] The switch-off process can depend on current ambient conditions of the fuel cell 104 or the vehicle 100. In particular, the switch-off process can include drying the anode of the fuel cell 104 at relatively low ambient temperatures (particularly at or below freezing) to remove water from the fuel cell 104 (which might cause damage to the fuel cell 104 by freezing). Thus, the time period of the switch-off process can be relatively long (for example, 30 seconds or longer), particularly at relatively low ambient temperatures.

[0042] The switch-off process of the fuel cell 104 can be caused by one or more actuators 105 (for example, a fan). The control unit 101 of the vehicle 100 can be designed to operate the one or more actuators 105 to carry out the switch-off process. Furthermore, the control unit 101 can be designed to identify that the switch-off process has been completed. In response, a refueling process for refueling the fuel tank 103 can be enabled.

[0043] Carrying out the switch-off process of the fuel cell 104, particularly at relatively low ambient temperatures, may thus require the user of the vehicle 100 to wait a relatively long time after parking or stopping the vehicle 100 at a refueling station 102 before the refueling process of the tank 103 can be started. This is typically inconvenient for the user of the vehicle 100.

[0044] The control unit 101 can be designed to determine that a refueling process should be carried out before reaching a refueling station 120 or upon reaching a refueling station 120. For example, it can be predicted or determined that a refueling process shall be carried out on the basis of the current fill level of the tank 103, on the basis of a planned route of the vehicle 100 in a navigation device 108 of the vehicle, on the basis of historical usage data of the vehicle 100, on the basis of vehicle-to-infrastructure communication (for example, between the vehicle 100 and a refueling station 120), or on the basis of the evaluation of sensor data from one or more environmental sensors (in particular cameras) of the vehicle 100. In particular, it can be predicted that a refueling process of the vehicle 100 will be carried out within a certain time period ahead (for example, of 10 minutes or less).

[0045] Alternatively or additionally, the user of the vehicle 100 can be allowed to indicate that a refueling process shall be carried out via a user interface 109 of the vehicle 100. For this purpose, a control input can be made at a control element of the user interface 109 and/or a voice input of the user can be provided.

[0046] Alternatively or additionally, the user interface 109 of the vehicle 100 can be used to question (for example, in response to the aforementioned prediction of a refueling process ahead) whether or not a refueling process should actually be carried out. It can then be possible for the user to indicate via the user interface 109 (for example, by a control input and/or by a voice input) whether or not a refueling process should be carried out.

[0047] The control unit 101 can thus be designed to determine that (within a certain time period ahead) a refueling process of the vehicle 100 shall be carried out. One or more measures can then be performed in order to reduce (or, if possible, avoid altogether) the delay time period between the vehicle 100 being parked at the refueling station 120 and the possible start of the refueling process.

[0048] An exemplary measure in this regard is to switch off the fuel cell 104 regardless of the ambient temperature and/or even at relatively low ambient temperatures using a (standard) switch-off process for relatively high ambient temperatures. In particular, only a normal or standard switch-off process can be carried out, even in winter (and not the relatively time-consuming winter switch-off process or winter shutdown). It can be assumed here that after the refueling of the tank 103, the fuel cell 104 is directly restarted or reactivated, so that the fuel cell 104 is not expected to cool down (and thus might be damaged by the remaining water in the fuel cell 104).

[0049] The control unit 101 can be designed to check whether a refueling process is actually carried out and/or whether the fuel cell 104 is reactivated within a specified, allowable, maximum switch-off period. If it is identified that the fuel cell 104 has not been reactivated within the specified stopped period, then the winter switch-off process can be performed subsequently to avoid any detrimental effect to the fuel cell 104.

[0050] Alternatively or additionally, as a measure, the switch-off process of the fuel cell 104 can be made to start already during the approach (at a certain physical distance (for example, 100 meters) and/or temporal distance (for example, 30-60 seconds)) prior to reaching the refueling station 120. The vehicle 100 can then be operated the remaining distance to the refueling station 120 (optionally solely) based on the electrical energy from the electrical energy storage device 106. In this way, the switch-off process can thus be finished before the user wishes to begin the refueling process.

[0051] The control unit 101 can be designed to determine the distance that the vehicle 100 will travel following the refueling process until the vehicle 100 is stopped again. For example, it can be determined that the vehicle 100 will travel to the user's residence following the refueling process.

[0052] If it is identified that only a relatively short distance will be traveled following the refueling process, which can be traveled solely using electrical energy from the electrical energy storage device 106, then the restart of the fuel cell 104 can be prevented. In this way, a re-execution of the switch-off process, the associated energy consumption, and the associated aging of the fuel cell 104 can be avoided.

[0053] FIG. 2 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary (possibly computer-implemented) method 200 for supporting a refueling process of a vehicle 100 having a fuel cell 104. In a vehicle 100 having a fuel cell 104, it is typically necessary to perform a switch-off process of the fuel cell 104 before starting the refueling process. In this regard, the switch-off process may take a relatively long period of time, particularly in winter or at relatively low temperatures (in order to perform a drying of the fuel cell).

[0054] The method 200 comprises determining 201 that a refueling process shall be carried out. For this purpose, data from a navigation system 108 of the vehicle 100, for example, and/or data relating to the fill level of the fuel tank 103 of the vehicle 100 and/or a user input at a user interface 109 of the vehicle 100 can be considered and/or evaluated. In particular, it can be determined within the scope of the method 200 that the vehicle 100 will perform a refueling process during the stop that has already been made or at the next stop.

[0055] Furthermore, in response thereto, the method 200 comprises performing 202 one or more measures aimed at reducing the delay time period for the start of the refueling process caused by execution of the switch-off process of the fuel cell 104. In other words, the one or more measures may help to start the refueling process as soon as possible after the vehicle is stopped so that the user does not have to wait for the switch-off process of the fuel cell to complete, or only has to wait for a reduced time period.

[0056] To reduce the delay time period between the stopping of the vehicle and the possible start of the refueling process, the switch-off process can be started already while the vehicle is still moving, before it reaches the refueling station for the refueling process. Alternatively or additionally, instead of a winter switch-off process, a normal or standard switch-off process can be carried out (wherein the standard switch-off process is typically quicker than the winter switch-off process), even if it would seem necessary to carry out the winter switch-off process due to the temperature conditions in the environment of the vehicle.

[0057] The method 200 described in this document can accelerate the readiness for refueling of a vehicle 100 having a fuel cell 104. Furthermore, the number of winter switch-off processes of a fuel cell 104, the associated load or aging of the fuel cell 104, and the associated energy consumption can be reduced. Thus, the service life of a fuel cell 104 can be increased.

[0058] Within the scope of a switch-off process, water may be purged from the exhaust system of the fuel cell 104, if necessary, which may result in water accumulation on the ground at the refueling station 120 and possibly ice formation in winter (especially if multiple vehicles 100 are refueled in succession at the same refueling station 120). By performing the switch-off process in good time before reaching the refueling station 120, such water accumulations can be avoided or at least reduced.

[0059] The present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments shown. In particular, it should be noted that the description and figures are intended to illustrate the principle of the proposed methods, devices and systems merely by way of example.