Panasonic Corporation

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Akinari Nakamura

Masataka Ozeki

Hideo Ohara

Shinji Miyauchi

Yoshikazu Tanaka

Akinori Yukimasa

Tetsuya Ueda

Junji Morita

Takayuki Urata

Yoshio Tamura

Takashi Nishikawa

Tomonori Asou

Yoichiro Tsuji

Makoto Uchida

Yasushi Sugawara

Akira Maenishi

Soichi Shibata

Shinya Kosako

Shigeki Yasuda

Yoshiaki Yamamoto

Takahiro Umeda

Kiyoshi Taguchi

Masao Yamamoto

Hiroshi Tatsui

Hiroki Fujioka

Terumaru Harada

Koichi Kusumura

Hirofumi Kokubu

Atsushi Nakayama

Akihisa Yoshimura

Tatsuo Nakayama

Jun Oe

Yuuji Mukai

Hiroki Ogura

Kenji Yonekura

Kohei Tsuyuguchi

Kouhei Tsuyuguchi

Yoshikazu Ip Development Center Tanaka

Yoshikazu c/o Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd Tanaka

A fuel cell system () comprising: a fuel cell () for generating electric power using a fuel gas; a fuel gas generator section () for generating the fuel gas using a raw material gas; a combustor section () for generating heat energy to be used for generating the fuel gas; an air feeder section () for feeding aft when the heat energy is generated; and a controller section (); wherein the fuel cell is filled with the raw material gas before the fuel gas is fed, and wherein the controller section () performs a control operation such that the feed rate of air supplied from the air feeder section () to the combustor section () increases when the fuel gas generated in the fuel gas generator section () is supplied to the fuel cell ().

Fuel cell system

A hydrogen generation apparatus includes: a reformer configured to generate a hydrogen-containing gas by using a raw material; a hydrodesulfurizer configured to remove a sulfur compound from the raw material; a recycle passage through which the hydrogen-containing gas is supplied to the hydrodesulfurizer; a condenser provided on the recycle passage or on a gas passage upstream from the recycle passage; a drain passage through which water condensed in the condenser is drained; a heating medium passage through which a heating medium that recovers heat from the condenser flows; a delivery device configured to cause the heating medium to flow through the heating medium passage; and a controller configured to cause the delivery device to operate when the hydrogen-containing gas is not flowing through the recycle passage at at least one of start-up and stopping of the hydrogen generation apparatus.

Hydrogen generation apparatus and fuel cell system

A fuel cell system of the present invention includes: a reformer () configured to generate a hydrogen-containing fuel gas from a material gas and steam; a fuel cell () configured to generate electric power by using a fuel gas supplied from the reformer (); a water tank () configured to store water; a water utilizing device configured to utilize the water supplied from the water tank (); a first water supply unit () disposed on a water passage () extending from the water tank () to the water utilizing device and configured to supply the water in the water tank () to the water utilizing device; and a purifier () disposed on the water passage () and configured to purify the water flowing through the water passage (), and the purifier () is provided such that when a water level of the water tank () is a full water level, the purifier () is filled with the water by the weight of the water.

The possibility of carbon deposition from a raw material gas is made lower than before in a pressure compensating operation carried out after stopping the stop process of a hydrogen generator and a fuel cell system including the hydrogen generator. The hydrogen generator includes: a raw material supply unit () configured to function to block supply of a raw material; a steam supply unit () configured to function to block supply of steam; a reformerincluding a reforming catalystand configured to generate a hydrogen-containing gas by using the raw material supplied from the raw material supply unit and the steam supplied from the steam supply unit; a closing unitconfigured to block at least a gas passage provided downstream of the reformer; and a controllerconfigured to execute a pressure compensating operation in which: during stop of the hydrogen generator, with hydrogen contained in the reformer, the supply of the raw material from the raw material supply unit and the supply of the steam from the steam supply unit are blocked, and the closing unit is closed; and to compensate a pressure decrease in the reformer due to a temperature decrease in the reformer after the closing of the closing unit, with the hydrogen contained in the reformer, the steam is supplied from the steam supply unit to the reformer.

Hydrogen generator, fuel cell system, and method for operating hydrogen generator

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell; a fuel gas supplying unit supplying the fuel gas into the fuel cell on the anode side thereof; an oxidizing agent gas supplying unit supplying the oxidizing agent gas into the fuel cell on the cathode side thereof; a raw material gas supplying unit supplying the raw material gas into the fuel cell; and a controlling unit controlling the supply of the fuel gas, the oxidizing agent gas and the raw material gas. After switching the output of electric power or the fuel cell off, the fuel gas supplying unit suspends the supply of the fuel gas, the oxidizing agent gas supplying unit suspends the supply of the oxidizing agent gas and the raw material gas supplying unit supplies the raw material gas into the fuel cell to purge the fuel cell on the cathode side.

Fuel cell system and method for stopping operation of fuel cell system

A fuel cell system is disclosed in which the oxidative degradation of an anode of a fuel cell during an operation stop period is restrained. The fuel cell system () of the invention comprises a fuel cell () configured to generate electric power by use of hydrogen contained in a fuel gas supplied to an anode () and oxygen contained in an oxidizing gas supplied to a cathode (); and a combustor () configured to combust flammable gas, and is formed such that after stopping the power generation, the flammable gas is introduced into and kept in the cathode () and when discharging the flammable gas from the cathode (), the flammable gas is combusted by the combustor ().

A hydrogen generator of the present invention includes: a reformer () including a reforming catalyst (A) containing nickel and configured to generate a hydrogen-rich fuel gas by using a raw material and steam; a temperature detector () configured to detect a temperature of the reforming catalyst (A); a purge gas supplying device () configured to supply a purge gas to the reformer (); and a controller (). When the temperature detected by the temperature detector () is a first predetermined temperature or higher, the controller () purges the reformer () with the purge gas supplied from the purge gas supplying device ().

Hydrogen generator and method for operating the same

A method of operating a fuel cell system including stopping power generation of a fuel cell which generates electric power using a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas, filling and keeping a combustible gas in a cathode of the fuel cell after said step, supplying the oxidizing gas to the cathode, supplying the combustible gas discharged from the cathode in response to the previous step to a combustor capable of heating a fuel generator for generating the fuel gas or an exhaust pipe connected to the combustor via a branch passage branching from an oxidizing gas passage located downstream of the cathode, diluting the combustible gas supplied to the combustor or the exhaust pipe with air supplied to the combustor or exhaust gas supplied to the exhaust pipe such that the combustible gas has a concentration lower than a combustion lower limit, and discharging the diluted combustible gas to atmosphere.

Method of operating a fuel cell system

A fuel cell power generation system includes a fuel gas generating means for generating a hydrogen-rich fuel gas from a source material having, as a main ingredient, a compound containing carbon and hydrogen; a source material supply source for supplying a source material to the fuel gas generating means; a fuel gas supply means for supplying the fuel gas from the fuel gas generating means to a fuel gas flow channel of a fuel cell at which channel a fuel electrode is placed; and a bypass means for supplying the source material from the source material supply source to the fuel gas flow channel, bypassing the fuel gas generating means. At least at one of time periods before start of and after end of power generation, the source material, as a displacement gas, is injected into the fuel gas flow channel of the fuel cell via the bypass means.

System and method of fuel cell power generation

A fuel cell system and an operation method thereof are provided, which are capable of properly executing special shutdown of the fuel cell system in the event of a trouble in purge operation by use of material gas. In the fuel cell system (), if an abnormality occurs in a purge process by use of material gas during shutdown of the fuel cell system (), the controller () brings, according to the contents of the abnormality, the opening/closing state of fuel electrode opening/closing devices () for opening and closing the outlet/inlet of a fuel electrode (), oxidant electrode opening/closing devices () for opening and closing the outlet/inlet of an oxidant electrode () or hydrogen generator opening/closing devices () for opening and closing the outlet/inlet of a hydrogen generator () into a state that is different from their opening/closing state when the purge process by use of the material gas is performed.

Fuel cell system and operation method thereof

The fuel cell power generation system includes a fuel cell, a reformer, a carbon monoxide decreasing unit, a first raw material supply source, a first valve which is provided to a first raw material flow passage, a second valve which is provided downstream of the carbon monoxide decreasing unit, a second raw material supply source which supplies a raw material to the inside of a flow passage which is closed by the first valve and the second valve from downstream of the carbon monoxide decreasing unit, and a control unit which controls the first valve and the second valve, wherein the control unit, after the first valve and the second valve are closed, supplies the raw material fed from the second raw material supply source to the inside of the flow passage closed by the first valve and the second valve at the time of stopping the system.

Fuel cell power generation system with valve on raw material gas supply passage and valve downstream of carbon monoxide decreasing unit, and method for operating fuel cell power generation system

A hydrogen generating apparatus of the present invention includes a controller () configured to, during a stop period, control a material gas feeding device () to feed a material gas to a gas passage which is located between the material gas feeding device () and a valve () to perform a maintaining process for maintaining a pressure in an interior of the gas passage at value which is not smaller than a first threshold which is an atmospheric pressure or larger. When the controller () detects there is an abnormality in the maintaining process, the controller () controls the material gas feeding device () and an ignition device (A) to feed the material gas with an amount which is larger than an amount in a case where the controller detects there is no abnormality in the maintaining process, during a period which lapses from when the controller detects the abnormality until the ignition device starts an ignition operation in a start-up process.

Hydrogen generating apparatus, method of operating hydrogen generating apparatus, and fuel cell system

A fuel cell system of the present invention comprises a fuel cell () configured to generate electric power using a fuel gas, a fuel gas generator () configured to generate a fuel gas containing hydrogen using a raw material, a combustion burner () configured to heat the fuel gas generator, a combustion fan () configured to supply air to a combustion burner (), and a controller (). The raw material is filled inside the fuel cell () before the fuel gas is supplied to the fuel cell. The controller () controls on-off valves () to cause the fuel gas to branch to flow to a second path (R) and to a fourth path (R) when the fuel gas generated in the fuel gas generator () starts to be supplied to the fuel cell ().

Fuel cell system with bypass path and operation method for controlling bypass path of fuel cell system

A stable and high reliability fuel cell electricity-generating device capable of generating electricity even in the case of sudden drop of load power includes a fuel cell generating electric power from a fuel and an oxidizer, a fuel processor producing fuel to be supplied into the fuel cell from an electricity-generating material, a combustion device combusting a residual fuel gas unconsumed in the fuel cell to raise the temperature of the fuel processor, and an electric power generation instructor determining the electric power generated by the fuel cell, wherein when the electric power generation instructor either decreases or prevents a decrease in the electric power generated by the fuel cell upon a decrease of load power to be supplied, depending on the temperature of the fuel processor.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Akinari Nakamura