Nissan Motor Company Limited

Kazufumi Takeuchi

Tatsuya Yaguchi

Keiko Kushibiki

Masaharu Hatano

Hiromichi Miwa

Dong Song

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, a first combustor, a second combustor, a first heating gas return channel, a second heating gas return channel and a gas supplier. The fuel cell includes a solid electrolyte cell with an anode and a cathode. The first combustor supplies a heating gas to the cathode. The second combustor supplies a heating gas to the anode. The first heating gas return channel is arranged to mix at least some exhaust gas discharged from the cathode with the heating gas from the first combustor. The second heating gas return channel is arranged to mix at least some exhaust gas discharged from the cathode with the heating gas from the second combustor. The gas supplier is connected to the first heating gas return channel for supplying the exhaust gas from the cathode to mix with the heating gas of the first combustor.

Fuel cell system and control method thereof

A fuel cell system is provided with a fuel cell, a first combustor, a first heating gas return channel and a gas supplier. The fuel cell includes a solid electrolyte cell with an anode and a cathode. The fuel cell generates power by reacting a hydrogen-containing gas and an oxygen-containing gas. The first combustor selectively supplies a heating gas to the cathode of the fuel cell. The first heating gas return channel mixes at least some exhaust gas discharged from the cathode with the heating gas of the first combustor such that a mixed heating gas of the exhaust gas and the heating gas is supplied to the cathode. The gas supplier connected to the first heating gas return channel for supplying the exhaust gas from the cathode to mix with the heating gas of the first combustor.

A solid electrolyte fuel cell system includes a reformer to produce a hydrogen-rich reformed gas from fuel, oxygen and water, and a stack structure including a stack of fuel cell units each receiving supply of the reformed gas and air, and producing electricity. The fuel cell system further includes a reformed gas cooler to cool the reformed gas supplied from the reformer to the stack structure, and a temperature control section to control operation of the reformed gas cooler in accordance with an operating condition such as a request output of the stack structure. The reformed gas cooler includes a device such as a heat exchanger for cooling the reformed gas with a coolant such as air.

Solid electrolyte fuel cell system

A fuel cell system includes: a power generation stack () composed by stacking a plurality of fuel cells (); and a hydrocarbon-oxidizing device () disposed on an upstream side of the power generation stack () in a fuel supply passage (). The hydrocarbon-oxidizing device () directly and electrochemically oxidizes hydrocarbons with a carbon number of 2 or more, which are contained in fuel gas, or decomposes the hydrocarbons and electrochemically oxidizes carbon obtained by decomposing the hydrocarbons.

Disclosed is a fuel cell system comprising a reformer and a fuel cell body to which a fuel gas reformed through the reformer and air are supplied and in which the supplied fuel gas and air are separated from each other and caused to flow and contact on respective electrodes to perform electric power generation. A moisture quantity adjustment device is configured to adjustably separate a portion of moisture included in the fuel gas supplied from the reformer in order for the moisture included in the fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel cell body in an appropriate quantity.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Kazufumi Takeuchi