Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Naoki Yamano

Takuya Tamura

Narutoshi Sugita

Shuhei Goto

Kenji Nagumo

Yuta Ikeda

Takashi Arai

Seiji Sugiura

Kentaro Ishida

Tadashi Nishiyama

Tadashi Nomura

Suguru Ohmori

Shuji Sato

Yoshihito Kimura

Daisuke Wachi

Tsuyoshi Kobayashi

Toshiki Kawamura

Jun Kondo

Yuji Asano

Hiroaki Ota

Syuji Sato

A fuel management device includes a residual amount information acquisition part configured to acquire residual amount information indicating a residual amount of hydrogen fuel of each of a plurality of vehicles that are previously registered, a vehicle identification part configured to identify a refueling target vehicle in which a residual amount of hydrogen fuel is a threshold or less on the basis of the residual amount information of each vehicle, an estimation part configured to estimate a supply amount of hydrogen fuel in supply facility of hydrogen fuel on the basis of a refueling amount of hydrogen fuel to be refueled to each of the refueling target vehicles, and an output controller configured to output information to an output part based on the estimation result of the estimation part.

Fuel management device, fuel management system, fuel management method, and storage medium

An operating method of a fuel cell system which includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks; a refrigerant passage configured to circulate a refrigerant circulated in a first fuel cell stack among the plurality of fuel cell stacks through a second fuel cell stack among the plurality of fuel cell stacks; and a first temperature acquisition unit and second temperature acquisition unit configured to acquire a temperature of the refrigerant downstream of the first fuel cell stack and upstream of the second fuel cell stack, includes, when the temperature of the refrigerant acquired by the first temperature acquisition unit and the second temperature acquisition unit is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, after start of the first fuel cell stack and after elapse of a delay time, starting the second fuel cell stack, and variably setting the delay time according to the temperature of the refrigerant.

Operating method of fuel cell system

A fuel cell system includes fuel cell modules connected in parallel and each including fuel cell stacks connected in series. A tester includes: an output power acquirer that acquires an output power value for each fuel cell stack; a deterioration estimator that estimates a degree of future deterioration for each fuel cell stack; and a future output power estimator that estimates, for each fuel cell stack, a future output power value, which is a value of power that is likely to be outputted after a specific period of time has passed, based on the degree of future deterioration estimated by the deterioration estimator. The fuel cell stack combining method includes determining combinations of the fuel cell stacks based on differences in the output power value between the fuel cell stacks and differences in the future output power value between the fuel cell stacks.

Fuel cell stack combining method

Provided is a fuel cell system including a plurality of fuel cell stacks, in which with a simple configuration, air retention is unlikely to occur in cooling water and a flow rate of the cooling water to each fuel cell stack can be uniformized. In a fuel cell system including a plurality of fuel cell stacks provided with a coolant flow path through which a coolant flows, the plurality of fuel cell stacks are juxtaposed in a horizontal direction, and include a supply pipeline that distributes and supplies the coolant to the coolant flow path, and a discharge pipeline that collects and discharges the coolant that has flowed through the coolant flow path, and the supply pipeline and the discharge pipeline are provided within a formation range where the coolant flow path is formed in the plurality of fuel cell stacks, in a direction of gravity.

Fuel cell system

Provided is a method of operating a fuel cell system equipped with a fuel cell stack, a liquid hydrogen storage unit configured to store liquid hydrogen, a boil-off gas recovery unit configured to recover boil-off gas generated from the liquid hydrogen storage unit, and a hydrogen concentration estimation unit configured to estimate the hydrogen concentration at a hydrogen electrode in the fuel cell stack in a standby state, the method including: in a case in which a hydrogen concentration at a hydrogen electrode in the fuel cell stack in a standby state has become less than a predetermined value, supplying boil-off gas recovered by the boil-off gas recovery unit to the hydrogen electrode in the fuel cell stack.

Method of operating fuel cell system, and fuel cell system

A method of operating a fuel cell system which has a plurality of fuel cell stacks, and includes a first refrigerant passage, a second refrigerant passage, a first temperature acquisition unit, a second temperature acquisition unit, a first refrigerant circulation passage, a first refrigerant pumping unit, a first heat exchanger and a first flow rate adjusting valve includes: after the plurality of fuel cell stacks are stopped, until a predetermined condition is satisfied, driving the first refrigerant pumping unit; and causing the first flow rate adjusting valve to adjust the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the first refrigerant passage and the flow rate of the refrigerant flowing through the second refrigerant passage, on the basis of the temperature of the refrigerant flowing through each of the first refrigerant passage and the second refrigerant passage acquired by the first temperature acquisition unit and the second temperature acquisition unit.

A fuel cell system includes a first ion exchanger, a first fuel cell stack and a second fuel cell stack, a first temperature acquisition part and a second temperature acquisition part, a first power generation time acquisition part and a second power generation time acquisition part, a supply path, an ion concentration estimation part that estimates ion concentration of a refrigerant on the basis of the ion concentration estimated by the ion concentration estimation part, a determination part that determines an exchange timing of the first ion exchanger on the basis of the ion concentration estimated by the ion concentration estimation part, and a control part, and a first refrigerant flow path and a second refrigerant flow path are provided in series or in parallel.

A fuel battery system includes: a plurality of fuel tanks configured to store fuel; a fuel battery stack configured to generate electricity using the fuel supplied from each of the plurality of fuel tanks; a filling unit configured to fill each of the plurality of fuel tanks with the fuel; and a control device configured to control the fuel battery stack to maintain generating of electricity by continuously supplying fuel from at least any one of the plurality of fuel tanks other than the fuel tank filled with the fuel from the filling unit to the fuel battery stack when at least one of the plurality of fuel tanks is filled with the fuel from the filling unit.

Fuel battery system

A separator member of a fuel cell stack includes a load receiver in a form of a plate. The load receiver is joined to a first separator in a manner that the load receiver protrudes outward from an outer peripheral portion of the first separator. The load receiver is formed asymmetrically about a central line passing through the center of the load receiver in the width direction and extending in the protruding direction of the load receiver.

Fuel cell separator member and fuel cell stack

A fuel cell includes a first separator including a reactant gas buffer portion which includes a first buffer region and a second buffer region. The first buffer region has a first depth in the stacking direction. First embossed portions are formed in the first buffer region. Each of the first embossed portions has a first diameter and a first radius of a corner at a distal end of each of the first embossed portions. The second buffer region has a second depth in the stacking direction larger than the first depth. Second embossed portions are formed in the second buffer region. Each of the second embossed portions has a second diameter and a second radius of a corner at a distal end of each of the second embossed portions. The second diameter is smaller than the first diameter or the second radius is smaller than the second diameter.

Fuel cell

A fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly, a first metal separator, a second metal separator, linear protrusions, and embossed protrusions. The first metal separator is stacked on the membrane electrode assembly. The second metal separator is stacked on the first metal separator to define a coolant channel between the metal separators. The first metal separator includes wave-shaped protrusions projecting from the first metal separator by a first height to define to form the coolant channel. The linear protrusions are connected to both distal ends of each of the wave-shaped protrusions. The linear protrusions project from the first metal separator by a second height smaller than the first height. The embossed protrusions are connected to tip ends of the linear protrusions. The embossed protrusions project from the first metal separator by a third height larger than the second height to be in contact with the second metal separator.

A fuel cell stack includes a first knock pin and a second knock pin. A separator has an outer peripheral shape having first and second short sides. The separator has a first knock pin insertion hole adjacent to the first side and a second knock pin insertion hole adjacent to the second side. The first and second knock pin insertion holes have a circular shape. The first insulating plate has third and fourth knock pin insertion holes. The second insulating plate has fifth and sixth knock pin insertion holes. The first knock pin is inserted into the third and fifth knock pin insertion holes to be movable in the third and fifth knock pin insertion holes. The second knock pin is inserted into the fourth and sixth knock pin insertion holes to be movable in the fourth and sixth knock pin insertion holes.

Fuel cell stack

A fuel cell stack includes a stacked body including a plurality of power generation cells stacked in a stacking direction. Insulation members and end plates are provided to sandwich the stacked body therebetween in the stacking direction. A coolant passage is provided between each of the insulation members and each of the end plates. The coolant passage includes a first coolant passage and a second coolant passage. A surface area of a region in which the first coolant passage is provided is larger than a surface area of a region in which the second coolant passage is provided. A flow rate of the coolant flowing through the first coolant passage is larger than a flow rate of the coolant flowing through the second coolant passage.

A fuel cell stack includes a stacked body, a first insulator, and a first shim. The stacked body includes electrolyte-electrode assemblies and separators. The electrolyte-electrode assemblies are stacked in a stacking direction and have a first end electrolyte-electrode assembly disposed at a first end of the stacked body. The separators includes a first end separator disposed at the first end of the stacked body between the first end electrolyte-electrode assembly and a first contact end plate having a first contact surface which the first end separator contacts. The first shim is provided in a first recess between the first contact end plate and the first insulator and has a thickness such that an outer peripheral surface of the first end separator is positioned between the first contact surface of the first contact end plate and an outer peripheral surface of the first insulator in the stacking direction.

A unit cell of a fuel cell stack includes separators. Load receivers provided in the separators include projections, for example. The proximal ends of the projections are depressed to form inner curves. In the structure, sufficient flexibility of the projection is achieved. That is, when a force in a direction perpendicular to a stacking direction of fuel cell stack is applied to the projection, the projection is deformed in the direction perpendicular to the stacking direction.

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Wako, Japan

Naoki Yamano