Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Ryo Jinba

Shigeru Inai

Hiromichi Yoshida

Katsumi Hayashi

Hideo Kato

Minoru Uoshima

Tomoki Kobayashi

Yasunori Kotani

Tadashi Nishiyama

Naoki Mitsuta

Minoru Koshinuma

Masataka Furuyama

Keiko Yamazaki

Nobuyuki Matsumoto

Masahiko Sato

Takashi Kato

Seiji Sugiura

Chihiro Wake

Koichiro Miyata

Yoshikazu Murakami

Masao Utsunomiya

Kenji Nagumo

Yuta Ikeda

Hideaki Sumi

Kaoru Yamazaki

Jun Kondo

Takahiro Takai

Yohei Hidaka

Kiyohide Hibino

Yoshiro Ichikawa

Masataka Shibuya

A fuel cell stack includes a stacked body, a first insulator and a second insulator. The stacked body includes power generation cells. The power generation cells are stacked in a stacking direction. The power generation cells include a first end power generation cell a second end power generation cell. Each of the power generation cells includes a membrane electrode assembly, a cathode separator and an anode separator. The first end power generation cell has an outermost cathode separator. The second end power generation cell has an outermost anode separator. The first insulator has a first recess in which a first heat-insulating body and a first terminal plate are accommodated. The second insulator has a second recess in which a second heat-insulating body and a second terminal plate are accommodated. A first number of first stacked heat-insulating layers is larger than a second number of second stacked heat-insulating layers.

Fuel cell stack

A method of operating a fuel cell includes the steps of detecting hydrogen peroxide concentration during power generation by a hydrogen peroxide concentration sensor provided directly on a membrane electrode assembly and determining an operating condition of the fuel cell based on the detected hydrogen peroxide concentration.

Fuel cell and method of operating the fuel cell

When a fuel-cell electric vehicle is running at idle, and a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the vehicle comes into the idle state, forthcoming stopping of an operation of the vehicle is predicted, and the operation mode of a fuel cell is shifted to a residual water reduction mode in which residual water remaining inside the fuel cell is reduced. In the residual water reduction mode, for example, the amount of humidification for air to be supplied to the fuel cell is reduced, so that the air with reduced humidity passes through the fuel cell, to thereby increase the amount of residual water removed by the air. Accordingly, the residual water inside the fuel cell can be reduced before the actual stopping of the operation of the vehicle.

Fuel-cell electric vehicle

A membrane electrode assembly of a fuel cell includes a solid polymer electrolyte membrane, a cathode, and an anode. The surface size of a cathode side electrode catalyst layer of the cathode is smaller than the surface size of an anode side electrode catalyst layer of the anode. An inner end of a gas impermeable film provided around the anode side electrode catalyst layer and an outer end of a cathode side electrode catalyst layer are overlapped with each other on both sides of the solid polymer electrolyte membrane.

Fuel cell

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell which generates electric power using supplied reactive gases; a load control device for controlling a load applied to the fuel cell; a voltage measuring device for measuring a voltage generated by the fuel cell; a fuel cell driving control device for controlling at least a supply of the reactive gases to the fuel cell; and a voltage variation rate obtaining device for obtaining a rate of variation in the voltage generated by the fuel cell when the load is varied. The fuel cell driving control device is controlled based on the rate of variation in the generated voltage obtained by the voltage variation rate obtaining device. The voltage variation rate being obtained when the generated voltage increases. The load being varied by applying momentarily a load to the fuel cell when the voltage variation rate is obtained.

Fuel cell system and activation method of fuel cell

A fuel cell stack includes a first end power generation unit and a first dummy unit adjacent to a power generation unit at one end of a stack body in a stacking direction. In the first end power generation unit, a first separator is stacked on the power generation unit, a first membrane electrode assembly is stacked on the first separator, a second separator is stacked on the first membrane electrode assembly, an electrically conductive plate is stacked on the second separator, and a third separator is stacked on the electrically conductive plate. A coolant is supplied to a coolant flow field formed between the power generation unit and the first end power generation unit, for cooling a second membrane electrolyte assembly of the power generation unit and the first membrane electrode assembly of the first end power generation unit.

A method of actuating a fuel cell system equipped with a fuel cell is disclosed. The fuel cell system is supplied with reaction gases for generating electricity. The method includes the steps of: a first step for actuating the fuel cell in a low-temperature actuation mode to thereby warm up the fuel cell, if a low-temperature actuation condition is satisfied at a start-up of the fuel cell; and a second step for drying a membrane electrode assembly of the fuel cell, if a power generation capacity of the fuel cell is lower than a predetermined power generation capacity.

Method of actuating fuel cell system and fuel cell system

A stop method for a fuel cell system including a fuel cell unit in which hydrogen is supplied to an anode, and air is supplied to a cathode so as to generate electrical power via an electrochemical reaction. The stop method includes the steps of stopping supply of hydrogen to the anode, electrically connecting the anode and the cathode via an electrical load, and supplying air to the anode.

Stop method for fuel cell system and fuel cell system

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell and a supplying unit, which supplies reactive gases to the fuel cell. A control unit includes a power production effective area calculator calculates the areas of the electrodes available for power production as a power production effective area. A current density calculator which calculates a current density of the power production effective area calculated by the power production effective area calculator based on the total amount of power required by the fuel cell. A gas supply amount determiner determines the amount of reactive gas to be supplied to the fuel cell depending on the current density. A gas supply controller controls the supplying unit so as to supply the amount of reactive gas determined by the gas supply amount determiner to the fuel cell.

Fuel cell system and fuel control method

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, an operation controller, a checking unit, a scavenging unit, an instructing unit, a temperature sensor, a humidifier and a humidification controller. The operation controller selects one of a normal operation mode and a low-temperature operation mode. The checking unit determines whether the fuel cell has been started up in the low-temperature operation mode. The instructing unit provides an instruction for a shutoff of electricity generation. When the scavenging unit conducts scavenging based on the checking unit determining that the fuel cell has been started in the low-temperature operation mode in response to an instruction for a shutoff of electricity generation and an actual temperature of the fuel cell is higher than a predetermined temperature, the humidification controller controls an amount of humidification according to the actual temperature.

Fuel cell system and shutoff method

An oxygen-containing gas flow field is formed on a surface of a first metal separator. The oxygen-containing gas flow field is connected between an oxygen-containing gas supply passage and an oxygen-containing gas discharge passage. The oxygen-containing gas flow field comprises oxygen-containing gas flow grooves, and ends of the oxygen-containing gas flow grooves are extended outwardly beyond ends of electrode catalyst layer of a membrane electrode assembly, and connected to an inlet buffer and an outlet buffer. When the purging process is performed at the time of stopping operation of the fuel cell, the purging air supplied to the oxygen-containing gas flow field discharges water retained in the electrode catalyst layers from the ends to the outlet buffer.

A stop method for a fuel cell system that includes a fuel cell unit in which hydrogen is supplied to an anode, and air is supplied to a cathode so as to generate electrical power via an electrochemical reaction. The stop method includes the steps of stopping supply of hydrogen to the anode, and supplying air to the anode so as to discharge water remaining at the anode.

Stop method for fuel cell system

A method of operating a fuel cell assembly and a fuel cell system use a simple construction to restrain deterioration of power generating performance of a fuel cell assembly at a startup in a subfreezing environment. If an ignition switch is turned off is STEP, a control unit determines in STEPwhether the temperature of a fuel cell assembly (the internal temperature of the fuel cell assembly) is lower than a predetermined temperature, which is higher than the temperature at which the water produced during power generation freezes. If the internal temperature of the fuel cell assembly is the predetermined temperature or higher, then the processing proceeds to STEPwherein a power generating condition is adjusted to cause the internal temperature of the fuel cell assembly to rise. In STEP, an alarm device is actuated. The power generation is continued until the internal temperature of the fuel cell assembly reaches the predetermined temperature or higher, and then the power generation is stopped in STEP

Fuel cell assembly operating method and fuel cell system

A fuel cell stack includes a stack body formed by stacking a plurality of power generation cells in a stacking direction. At one end of the stack body, first and second dummy cells are provided. At the other of the stack body, third and fourth dummy cells are provided. Each of the first to fourth dummy cells includes a first metal separator and a second metal separator. The first metal separator and a first metal separator of the power generation cell have substantially the same shape. The second metal separator and a second metal separator of the power generation cell have substantially the same shape.

Fuel cell stack with dummy cell

A fuel cell stackincludes a stacked structurecomposed of a plurality of electricity-generating cells stacked successively, and dummy cells arranged at both ends in a stacking direction of the stacked structure. Each dummy celleach includes a conductive plateand first and second metallic separatorswhich sandwich the conductive plate. The conductive plateis formed of a metallic plate having substantially the same shape as that of the electrolytic membrane electrode assembly. The first and second metallic separatorsare structured in the same manner as the first and second metallic separatorsof the electricity-generating cell

Growing community of inventors

Utsunomiya, Japan

Ryo Jinba