Fast measurement of proton exchange membrane fuel cell impedance based on pseudo-random binary sequence perturbation signals and continuous wavelet transform

This paper proposes an approach to the estimation of PEM fuel cell impedance by utilizing pseudo-random binary sequence as a perturbation signal and continuous wavelet transform with Morlet mother wavelet. With the approach, the impedance characteristic in the frequency band from 0.1 Hz to 500 Hz is identified in 60 seconds, approximately five times faster compared to the conventional single-sine approach. The proposed approach was experimentally evaluated on a single PEM fuel cell of a larger fuel cell stack. The quality of the results remains at the same level compared to the single-sine approach. •A new approach to the estimation of PEM fuel cell impedance is proposed.•The approach employees PRBS waveform as perturbation signals.•The impedance characteristic is computed based on continuous wavelet transform.•Guidance for optimal parameter selection is presented.•The impedance characteristic of a PEM fuel cell is obtained in 60 seconds.