Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Hiroshi Shimanuki

Toshikatsu Katagiri

Motohiro Suzuki

Yoshio Kusano

Tomoki Kobayashi

Yoshio Nuiya

Tatsuya Sugawara

Takuma Kanazawa

Toshiaki Ariyoshi

Kouji Miyano

Yasushi Kanai

Hideo Okamoto

Hiromi Matsuura

Masayuki Tsuchiya

Kouji Kurosaki

Akifumi Ohtaka

Kouji Katano

Motohiro Suziki

A fuel cell stackin a fuel-circulating fuel cell system is supplied with fuel and an oxidizing agent to generate electricity. The fuel discharged from the fuel cell stackis supplied to the fuel cell stackagain through a fuel-circulating passageIn the fuel-circulating passageis provided a fuel pumppowered from an outside source to circulate the fuel through the fuel-circulating passageat a predetermined circulation rate. An ECUtransmits an output instruction value to the fuel cell stackand regulates a circulation rate of the fuel in the fuel-circulating passageaccording to the output instruction value.

Fuel-circulating fuel cell system

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell for generating power by being supplied with a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas, a fuel gas supply path for supplying a fuel gas to the fuel cell, a fuel off-gas circulation path for returning a fuel off-gas discharged from the fuel cell to the fuel gas supply path, an ejector, provided in the fuel gas supply path and driven by fluid flow energy, for supplying the fuel off-gas in the fuel off-gas circulation path flow to the fuel gas supply path, a fuel pump, provided in the fuel off-gas circulation path or on the fuel gas supply path and downstream with respect to the ejector, and driven by a rotating machine, for pressurizing the fuel off-gas, a discharge valve for discharging the fuel off-gas from the fuel off-gas circulation path; and a control device operatively connected to the fuel pump and to the discharge valve.

Fuel cell system programmed to control reactant gas flow in a gas circulation path

A method for warming up a fuel cell system comprising; a fuel cell which generates electric current due to an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and which supplies the electric current to a load, an air supply pipe for supplying air to the fuel cell as an oxidant gas, an air exhaust pipe for discharging exhaust air from the fuel cell to an atmosphere, a compressor provided on either of air supply pipe and air exhaust pipe, which carries the air and a communication pipe which returns exhaust air to air supply pipe, and which communicates exhaust air pipe with air supply pipe to form a circulation cycle including compressor. The method of the present invention comprises: detecting a temperature of the fuel cell, and if the temperature of the fuel cell is lower than a first prescribed temperature, heating fuel cell by circulating the air, which has been heated by a heat generated due to adiabatic compression through compressor prior to supplying the electric current to the load from the fuel cell.

Method and apparatus for warming-up fuel cell and fuel cell vehicle

The invention provides a fuel cell system, which has a humidifying apparatus to supply the sufficient moisture to the solid electrolyte membrane of a fuel cell and is capable of preventing the mixture of fuel and oxidant gases in the apparatus. The hydrogen gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell is humidified in the first humidifier and the air Ad supplied to the cathode is humidified in the second humidifier. The first humidifier has the non-porous water permeable membrane, which is permeable only to the moisture of the cathode off-gas discharged from the cathode of the fuel cell, on the other hand the second humidifier has the porous water permeable membrane, which is permeable to the moisture of the cathode off-gas.

Fuel cell system and humidification method

A humidifier for fuel cell of the present invention comprises a hollow fiber membrane module in which a hollow fiber membrane bundle, comprising hollow fiber membranes bundled together, is accommodated inside a housing. The module comprises an entrance head which supplies off-gas inside the hollow fiber membranes, an exit head which converges off-gas, which has passed through the hollow fiber membranes, at another end of the hollow fiber membrane module, and an exhaust exit which exhausts liquid, accumulated in the entrance head. According to this humidifier, it is possible to prevent the hollow fiber membranes from becoming blocked by water.

Humidifier for fuel cell

A humidifying system for a fuel cell includes: a fuel cell having an anode and a cathode, the anode being supplied with a fuel gas and the cathode being supplied with an oxidant gas so that the fuel gas and the oxidant gas chemically react within the fuel cell to generate electricity; a first humidifier transferring moisture of cathode exhaust gas discharged from the cathode of the fuel cell to the fuel gas through hollow fiber membranes; a second humidifier transferring moisture of cathode exhaust gas discharged from the first humidifier to the oxidant gas through hollow fiber membranes; and a reduced pressure generating device arranged downstream of the first humidifier and between the first humidifier and the fuel cell to mix part of anode exhaust gas discharged from the anode of the fuel cell with the fuel gas using negative pressure resulting from a flow of the fuel gas.

Humidifying system for a fuel cell

An apparatus for warming-up a fuel cell has means for returning an exhaust gas which returns the exhaust gas to the supply gas depending upon the warning-up conditions of the fuel cell at the time when the supply gas is supplied into the fuel cell and it is discharged as the exhaust gas after utilizing the supply gas in the fuel cell.

Apparatus for warming-up fuel cell

A fuel cell includes an anode and a cathode, and a fuel gas supplied to the anode and an oxidant gas supplied to the cathode chemically react with each other to generate electricity. Moisture contained in a cathode exhaust gas discharged from the cathode is transferred to the fuel gas in a first humidifier and then to the oxidant gas in a second humidifier. The cathode exhaust gas flows through a cathode exhaust gas passage from the cathode via the first humidifier to the second humidifier. A bypass is provided to the cathode exhaust gas passage to allow part of the cathode exhaust gas to detour round the first humidifier and flow to the second humidifier. Accordingly, the balance between humidification levels of fuel gas and oxidant gas each supplied to the fuel cell may be kept and adjusted properly even when the output of the fuel cell gets higher.

The fuel cell humidifying system is to prevent freezing and clogging of a water permeable type humidifier by providing a gas passage switching device for changing the gas flow paths communicating with the humidifier. To direct the flow of dry air exiting from the supercharger to the exhaust passage in the humidifier, the gas passage switching device includes a first three-way valve, a second three-way valve, a flow adjusting valve and a sweep piping. In this system, water vapor in the humidifier which causes freezing can be swept off by flowing dry air through the exhaust gas passage in the humidifier, and therefore, clogging caused by ice particles which plug up the pores of the hollow thread membrane in the humidifier can be prevented.

Fuel cell humidifying system

A more compact humidifying apparatus for a fuel cell can be implemented. In the present invention, hydrogen humidifying modules A and B are disposed so as to be separated vertically on the front surface side of the humidifying unit , the air humidifying modules C and D are disposed separated vertically on the back side surface thereof, and the air humidifying modules E is disposed at the center, surrounded by the humidifying modules A, B, C, and D. The axis direction of all of the humidifying modules A to E are disposed so as to be parallel to each other, only the hydrogen humidifying module A is disposed so that its position is shifted to the left (the longitudinal direction) of the axial direction of the other humidifying modules A to E, and the air off gas discharge pipes of the air humidifying modules C to E are disposed in the space formed by this shift.

Humidifying apparatus for fuel cell

A fuel cell system comprises a condenser for separating discharged components discharged from a fuel cell into gas components and water and recovering the water, and a flow rate control unit for controlling a flow rate of a cooling medium supplied to the condenser for performing heat exchange with the discharged components, depending on an operation condition of the fuel cell. Accordingly, the flow rate of the cooling medium can be smoothly controlled depending on the operation condition of the fuel cell.

Fuel cell system and gas/liquid separation method for the same

A humidifier having a plurality of water-permeable hollow fiber membranes placed along the lengthwise direction of a housing accommodated within the housing in which gases each having a different moisture content flow inside and outside the hollow fiber membranes to carry out moisture exchange whereby the dry air having a low moisture content is humidified is disclosed. The humidifier comprises a bypass channel having a larger diameter than that of the hollow fiber membrane, in which the gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane, formed on an approximately central portion of the cross-lengthwise direction of the housing along the lengthwise direction of the housing, and an inlet which introduces the gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane into the housing and an outlet which discharges the gas flowing outside the hollow fiber membrane formed on the bypass channel.

Humidifier

Disclosed is a system comprising a mixing tank, a methanol supply unit, and a water supply unit. When it is detected by first and second level sensors that the mixture liquid stored in the mixing tank and the liquid fuel stored in the methanol supply unit are in not more than predetermined amounts respectively, water supply is stopped from the water supply unit to the mixing tank in accordance with the action of a changeover valve. Accordingly, it is possible to always maintain a constant mixing ratio of liquid fuel and water in the mixing tank, and it is possible to simplify the system.

Fuel cell system and method for regulating liquid fuel for the same

The present invention provides the fuel cell system, in which the decrease in the power generation and the degradation of the durability of the fuel cell can be prevented even if the temperature of fuel cell is low at starting or the ambient temperature is low. On the fuel cell starting electric power generation, the air supplied to the cathode inlet is humidified by the hollow fiber membrane humidifier and the hydrogen gas supplied to be anode inlet is humidified by another hollow fiber membrane humidifier. The cooling fluid of the cooling line, which absorbs the heat from the fuel cell and flows into the heat exchanger, heats the hollow fiber membrane humidifiers. Thus the humidification is promoted by heating the humidified air and hydrogen gas to raise their dew-point temperatures.

Fuel cell system

A fuel cell system comprises a humidifier which can humidify a fuel cell even when humidification has become insufficient at start-up of the fuel cell and during normal operation thereof. A water collecting apparatus which collects water in the exhaust gas of the fuel cell, and an auxiliary humidifier which humidifies the gas supply by using collected water from the water collecting apparatus, are provided separate to the water-permeable-type humidifier. The water collecting apparatus comprises a vapor/liquid separator and a collected water storage tank, and the auxiliary humidifier comprises a check valve, a collected water supply pump, an auxiliary humidification pipe, and an injector. The collected water in the collected water storage tank is transferred by a collected water supply pump, atomized by the injector, and supplied to the intake side of the fuel cell.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Hiroshi Shimanuki