Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.

Eiichi Yasumoto

Kazuhito Hatoh

Yasushi Sugawara

Makoto Uchida

Hisaaki Gyoten

Hideo Ohara

Hiroki Kusakabe

Teruhisa Kanbara

Junji Morita

Osamu Sakai

Toshihiro Matsumoto

Akihiko Yoshida

Junji Niikura

Kazufumi Nishida

Shinsuke Takeguchi

Shinichi Arisaka

Yoshihiro Hori

Takaharu Gamou

Yoichiro Tsuji

Yasuo Takebe

Takaharu Gamo

Soichi Shibata

Shinya Kosako

Noboru Taniguchi

Masao Yamamoto

Kouji Nakagawa

Takeshi Tomizawa

Masato Hosaka

Takahiro Umeda

Hideo Kasahara

Masaki Yamauchi

Masaru Watanabe

Hidenobu Wakita

Tsutomu Kawashima

Shigeyuki Unoki

Yukiyoshi Ono

Kinichi Adachi

Yoshio Morita

Nobuhiro Hase

Yasuhiro Ueyama

Takayuki Urata

Yasuhito Takahashi

Takeshi Yonamine

Yasutomo Funakoshi

So Kuranaka

Toru Sukawa

Kunihito Mori

Susumu Hatano

Jo Suzuki

Nobuyuki Kamikihara

Sadao Nagai

Hatoh Kazuhito

Mamoru Hamanishi

Tatsuo Nagasaki

Masatoshi Teranishi

Kazufumi Room 202 Haitsu-Nishiguchi Nishida

Kazuhito Room 714 Suminodou Paaku-Haitsu Hatoh

Hideo Room A-402 Ohara

A fuel cell power generation system including a fuel cell, a fuel generator, an oxidizing gas supply device, an output controller, an open-close mechanism, and a controller. The controller is configured such that in a stop process, the controller controls the output controller to stop supplying the electric power to an external load; controls the oxidizing gas supply device to stop supplying an oxidizing gas and controls the open-close mechanism to close a passage upstream from an oxidizing gas channel; after the passage upstream from the oxidizing gas channel is closed, stops a raw material gas supply device and a water supply device when a predetermined period has elapsed, during which period a gas in the oxidizing gas channel is replaced by a fuel gas.

Fuel cell power generation system and operation stop method of the same

A fuel cell system of the present invention includes: a fuel cell () having an electrolyte membrane (), an anode () and a cathode () sandwiching the electrolyte membrane (), a cathode gas passage () through which an oxidizing gas is supplied to and discharged from the cathode (), and an anode gas passage () through which a fuel gas is supplied to and discharged from the anode (); a fuel gas channel having an anode gas passage () and through which the fuel gas is supplied to and discharged from the anode (); and an oxidizing gas channel having the cathode gas passage () and through which the oxidizing gas is supplied to and discharged from the cathode (). When the fuel cell system stops generating electric power, the fuel gas channel and the oxidizing gas channel are closed, and a gas is supplied from a downstream side of the cathode gas passage () to an oxidizing gas filled space () which is practically isolated from outside by closing the oxidizing gas channel and includes the cathode gas passage ().

Fuel cell system with controlled stop process for a shut-down operation

An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell including a reaction gas supply path which makes it difficult to cause water condensation in a region near an end plate. A fuel cell of the present invention comprises a cell stackhaving a reaction gas passageinside thereof and having on one end surface thereof a reaction gas supply inletfrom which a reaction gas is supplied to the reaction gas passage, a jointconnecting the reaction gas supply inletto an external pipe P for supplying the reaction gas, plate-shaped end memberswhich are disposed on one end surface of the cell stackand have through-holesinto which the jointis inserted so as not to contact inner wall surfaces thereof, and a closing memberfor substantially closing a space formed between the jointand the inner wall surfaces of the through-holes

Fuel cell

A preservation assembly of a PEFC stack which is capable of sufficiently inhibiting degradation of performance of the PEFC stack particularly during a time period that elapses from when the stack is placed in the uninstalled state until it is placed in the installation position and is practically used. The PEFC stack is provided with an oxidizing agent passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through a cathode and a reducing agent passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through an anode. The PEFC stack is preserved in an uninstalled state in such a manner that an interior of the oxidizing agent passage and an interior of the reducing agent passage are set in a pressure-reduced state.

Method of preserving polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack and preservation assembly of polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack

Provided is a method of preserving a PEFC stack, which is capable of controlling degradation of performance of the PEFC stack during a time period that elapses from when the stack is placed in an uninstalled state until it is placed in an installation position and is practically used. Provided is a preservation assembly of the PEFC stack which is capable of sufficiently inhibiting degradation of performance of the PEFC stack particularly during a time period that elapses from when the stack is placed in the uninstalled state until it is placed in the installation position and is practically used. A method of preserving a PEFC stack that is provided with an oxidizing agent passage () having an inlet and an outlet and extending through a cathode and a reducing agent passage () having an inlet and an outlet and extending through an anode, comprising preserving the PEFC () stack in an uninstalled state in such a manner that an interior of the oxidizing agent passage () and an interior of the reducing agent passage () are set in a pressure-reduced state.

A preservation assembly of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack is provided. The assembly includes an uninstalled polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack and sealing units. The uninstalled polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack is provided with an oxidizing agent passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through a cathode and a reducing agent passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through an anode. The sealing units include sealing plugs or containers and are configured to seal the inlet and the outlet of the oxidizing agent passage within which an oxygen concentration has been decreased and to seal the inlet and the outlet of the reducing agent passage within which the oxygen concentration has been decreased. The uninstalled polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack is in a state before an assembled polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack is incorporated into a fuel cell system.

Preservation assembly of polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack

A method of preserving a PEFC stack of the present invention is a method of preserving a PEFC stack that is provided with an oxidizing agent passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through a cathode and a reducing agent passage having an inlet and an outlet and extending through an anode. The method comprises preserving the polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack in an uninstalled state under a condition in which an oxygen concentration within the oxidizing agent passage and within the reducing agent passage is lower than an oxygen concentration in atmospheric air.

The invention relates to a separator plate for use in a fuel cell and to a fuel cell. The separator plate has: a passage groove group including a plurality of gas passage groovesformed so as to extend in serpentine form; and a communicating grooveconfigured to provide fluid communication between adjacent portions of the gas passage grooves. Various separator plates have heretofore been disclosed in public by many documents and the blockage of the gas passage grooves caused by condensed water droplets formed therein is deemed to be properly prevented. However, the inventors think that those separator plates have a critical oversight in the behavior of a gas-liquid two phase fluid including a reaction gas and condensed water. That is, the condensed water is likely to concentrate in the vicinity of the gas passage grooves located in the downstream side of such separator plates and therefore these separator plates are liable to blockage. The invention intends to overcome the above problem by making the communicating grooveshallower than the gas passage grooves.

Separator plate and fuel cell

Separator for fuel cell

The present invention is intended to enable efficient assembly of a fuel cell stack without causing any damage to the conductive separator. In a fuel cell including an anode, a cathode, an electrolyte membrane interposed between the anode and the cathode, and conductive separators each having manifold aperturesand a flow channelfor supplying a gas to the anode or the cathode, manifold aperture connecting portionsare formed at an inlet-side end and an outlet-side end of the flow channel, respectively. Each of the manifold aperture connecting portionsis recessed below the upper surface of the conductive separator. Cover plates are fitted and fixed to the recessed portions, respectively.

Fuel cell having manifold apertures and cover plates

The polymer electrolyte fuel cell of the present invention is equipped with a cell having an MEA having a hydrogen ion-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane and an anode and a cathode sandwiching the polymer electrolyte membrane; a platelike anode-side separator positioned on one side of the MEA so that the front surface thereof contacts the anode, with fuel gas passages through which fuel gas flows being formed in the front surface; and a platelike cathode-side separator positioned on the other side of the MEA so that the front surface thereof contacts the cathode, with oxidizing gas passages through which oxidizing gas flows being formed in the front surface; a cell stack in which a plurality of said cells is stacked; and a cooling water flow passage, through which cooling water flows, formed on at least the rear surface of one from among the anode-side separator and the cathode-side separator of at least a prescribed cell in said cell stack; where said fuel gas, oxidizing gas, and cooling water flow through said fuel gas passage, oxidizing gas passage, and cooling water passage, respectively, in a manner not running counter to gravity.

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell

Growing community of inventors

Kyoto, Japan

Eiichi Yasumoto