Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Kokoku Intech Co., Ltd.

Hiroshi Morikawa

Kentaro Ishida

Seiji Sugiura

Masahiro Mohri

Chihiro Wake

Katsumi Hayashi

Yoichi Asano

Hiromichi Yoshida

Yosuke Nishida

Jun Takano

Ken Takahashi

Narutoshi Sugita

Shuhei Goto

Hideo Kato

Hibiki Saeki

Koichiro Miyata

Naoki Mitsuta

Masaaki Sakano

Nagayuki Kanaoka

Shigeru Inai

Masaru Iguchi

Teruyuki Ohtani

Hiroshi Sohma

Suguru Ohmori

Shinya Watanabe

Nobutaka Nakajima

Kentaro Nagoshi

Takaki Nakagawa

Satoshi Oyama

Keisuke Mori

Yu Tomana

Masahiro Matsutani

Nobuki Koiwa

Takashi Yamamoto

Mikihiko Kimura

Kaoru Yamazaki

Ayumu Ishizuka

Takashi Kosaka

Jun Kondo

Satoshi Tanimoto

Go Kikuchi

Ryugo Suzuki

Akihiro Noda

Shinsuke Shimoda

Minoru Koshinuma

Hayato Kaji

Keisuke Ando

Shinjiro Morita

Kensuke Umezawa

Takeo Abe

Ryo Jimba

Koji Hirayama

Tomoyoshi Iino

Takahiro Fukuchi

Hirotoshi Honma

A fluid flow field of a separator of a fuel cell stack allows a fluid to flow in a separator surface direction. A rubber seal member provides a seal between the fluid passage and the fluid flow field. The tunnel portion intersects the rubber seal member at an intersection. The tunnel portion allows the fluid flow field and the fluid passage to connect to each other. In the rubber seal member, a first portion protrudes from a flat portion in a stacking direction, and a second portion protrudes from a protruding end surface of a tunnel portion in the stacking direction.

Fuel cell separator and fuel cell stack

An oxygen-containing gas flow field and an inner bead (or a bead seal) are formed on one surface of a first metal separator, and a coolant flow field as a passage of a coolant is formed on the other surface of the first metal separator. Further, a coolant supply passage and a coolant discharge passage extend through the first metal separator in a separator thickness direction. An in-bead channel as a passage of the coolant is formed by a recess on the back side of the inner bead. A narrowed segment is provided in a part of the in-bead channel. The channel cross sectional area of the narrowed segment is smaller than those of other segments.

Fuel cell metal separator and fuel cell

A plurality of anode wavy portions provided in an anode separator of a fuel cell have wavy patterns in the same phase, and are arranged in an amplitude direction of the anode wavy portions at a first pitch. A plurality of cathode wavy portions provided in a cathode separator have wavy patterns in the same phase but in reverse phase with respect to the anode wavy portions, and are arranged in an amplitude direction of the cathode wavy portions at a second pitch. The first pitch and the second pitch have different sizes.

Fuel cell

A fuel cell stack includes a cell stack body and a terminal plate and an insulator disposed at an end of the cell stack body in a stacking direction. The cell stack body includes a plurality of stacked power generation cells. Each of the power generation cells includes a membrane electrode assembly and a separator. The terminal plate is disposed between the cell stack body and the insulator. Elastic structure which elastically presses the terminal plate toward the cell stack body is provided between the insulator and the terminal plate.

Fuel cell stack

Oxygen-containing gas discharge passages are provided in a first metal separator of a fuel cell of a fuel cell stack. The oxygen-containing gas discharge passages include an upper oxygen-containing gas discharge passages and a lower oxygen-containing gas discharge passage. In the first metal separator, a central position at the center between the upper oxygen-containing gas discharge passage and the lower oxygen-containing gas discharge passage is positioned below the center of an oxygen-containing gas flow field in the gravity direction.

Fuel cell and fuel cell stack

A fuel cell stack includes a stack body of power generation cells stacked in a horizontal direction. An oxygen-containing gas flow field is formed in the fuel cell stack, for allowing an oxygen-containing gas to flow along an electrode surface of a membrane electrode assembly. A plurality of oxygen-containing gas discharge passages for discharging the oxygen-containing gas as a reactant gas pass through the fuel cell stack in a stacking direction of the power generation cells. Each of the oxygen-containing gas discharge passages is connected to an outlet. The plurality of oxygen-containing gas discharge passages are connected together by a first connection channel at an end opposite to the outlet.

A fuel cell includes an MEA, a first separator, and a second separator. A frame member is provided around an outer peripheral portion of an MEA, and held between the first separator and the second separator. The height of an oxygen-containing gas flow field formed by the second separator, from the MEA is larger than the height of a fuel gas flow field formed by the first separator, from the MEA. The central position of the MEA in the thickness direction and the central position of the frame member outer peripheral portion of the frame member in the thickness direction are offset from each other.

A joint line includes a passage joint line, a first outer joint line provided in outer peripheral portions of a first metal separator and a second metal separator, and a second outer joint line provided in the outer peripheral portions of the first metal separator and the second metal separator around the first outer joint line.

Joint separator for fuel cell, and fuel cell stack

A method of shutting down a fuel cell system includes a first step of supplying hydrogen gas and air to a fuel cell stack to thereby cause the fuel cell stack to generate electricity, and a second step of stopping supply of the hydrogen gas, and then supplying air to the fuel cell stack so as to cause the fuel cell stack to generate electricity upon detection of a command to shut down the fuel cell stack. In the second step, when the pressure of the hydrogen gas is lowered to a preset lower-limit value based on an anode pressure, which actually is measured, the fuel cell stack is caused to stop generating electricity.

Method of shutting down fuel cell system

A fuel cell system has different allowable changes per unit time in an operation range of a fuel cell, in both a first output range of the fuel cell and a second output range of the fuel cell, the second output range being lower than the first output range. The allowable change per unit time in the output of the fuel cell in the second output range is smaller than the allowable change per unit time in the output of the fuel cell in the first output range.

Method of controlling output of fuel cell system and vehicle with fuel cell system

A fuel cell having an oxygen-containing gas flow field and a fuel gas flow field, an oxygen-containing gas supply apparatus for supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the oxygen-containing gas flow field, a fuel gas supply apparatus for supplying a fuel gas to the fuel gas flow field, a scavenging gas supply apparatus for supplying air as a scavenging gas to the fuel gas flow field, and a controller are provided. The controller includes a voltage detection unit for detecting the voltage of the fuel cell after operation of the fuel cell is stopped and a scavenging control unit for starting scavenging in the fuel gas flow field by the scavenging gas supply apparatus after the detected voltage is decreased temporarily, increased, and decreased again to become a preset voltage or less.

Fuel cell system and scavenging method therefor

A fuel cell stack includes a box-shaped casing and a stack body in the box-shaped casing. The stack body is formed by stacking a plurality of unit cells. The casing includes end plates, a plurality of side plates, angle members, and coupling pins. The angle members couple adjacent ends of the side plates. The coupling pins couple the end plates and the side plates.

A fuel cell stack includes a stack body formed by stacking a plurality of power generation cells in a stacking direction. At opposite ends of the stack body in the stacking direction, end power generation cells are provided. An end coolant flow field is formed on a separator of the end power generation cell. The flow rate of the coolant in the end coolant flow field is smaller than the flow rate of the coolant in a coolant flow field in each of the power generation cells. Specifically, the number of flow grooves of the end coolant flow field is smaller than the number of flow grooves of the coolant flow field.

A seal member is formed integrally on surfaces of a metal separator of a fuel cell. The seal member includes an outer seal and an inner seal provided on a surface of the metal separator. A plurality of closure seals are formed integrally with an inner edge of the inner seal. The closure seals close a space between the inner seal and a protrusion forming a fuel gas flow field.

Fuel cell having closure seal

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Wako, Japan

Hiroshi Morikawa