Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Kyocera Corporation

Satoshi Shiokawa

Tetsuya Bono

Osamu Hamanoi

Takashi Shimazu

Hiroshi Aoki

Satoshi Aoyama

Hiroyuki Mitsui

Shigeru Ogino

Yasuhiro Izawa

Takashi Ono

Satoshi Watanabe

Mitsuhiro Nakamura

Norihiro Fukaya

Shuhei Nakamura

Hiroyuki Imanishi

Yoshiaki Naganuma

Takahiko Hasegawa

Tomohiro Ogawa

Tsuyoshi Maruo

Kohei Oda

A fuel cell system includes a removal treatment execution unit configured to execute an oxide layer removal treatment that removes an oxide layer generated on a catalyst of a fuel cell. The removal treatment execution unit is configured to execute the oxide layer removal treatment by adjusting a voltage of the fuel cell to be within a predetermined second voltage range lower than a predetermined first voltage range that is lower than an open-circuit voltage, when an operation of the fuel cell system shifts from a first operation, where a current value of the fuel cell is zero and the flow rate is controlled to maintain the voltage of the fuel cell within the first voltage range, to a second operation, where the current value is larger than zero and the flow rate is controlled in response to an output request to the fuel cell.

Fuel cell system and oxide layer removal method

A fuel cell system includes: a flow sensor configured to measure an actual flow rate of air which is introduced into an oxidizing gas supply passage via a compressor when a fuel cell generates electric power; and a wind speed deriving unit configured to acquire a flow rate of air measured by the flow sensor in a state in which air flows from the oxidizing gas supply passage to an oxidizing gas discharge passage via the compressor and a bypass flow passage and to derive an actual wind speed of wind which is received by the fuel cell system, when the compressor stops.

Fuel cell system, moving object including fuel cell system, and wind speed deriving method in fuel cell system

A device for monitoring electricity generation comprising: an acquirer that acquires a total value of cell voltage from multiple cells including fuel cells; an increaser that increases the anode gas now rate to the multiple cells when the total value shows a possibility of negative voltage occurring in some of the multiple cells; and a judger that judges if negative voltage occurred in some of the multiple cells based on the total value following the increase of the anode gas flow rate.

Device for monitoring electricity generation and method for monitoring electricity generation

At an ordinary stop time of a fuel cell system, a controller of the fuel cell system completes an ordinary stop process that includes at least one of a water drainage process that discharges water from at least one of the fuel gas flow path and the oxidizing gas flow path and a cathode sealing process that seals the oxidizing gas flow path, and subsequently stops the fuel cell system. When the fuel cell system satisfies a predetermined emergency stop condition, the controller does not perform at least part of the ordinary stop process but performs an emergency stop process that sets the fuel cell system to be restarted after elapse of a first time period since a stop of the fuel cell system and subsequently stops the fuel cell system. The controller restarts the fuel cell system after elapse of the first time period since stop of the fuel cell system and performs a restart process that performs the ordinary stop process.

Fuel cell system and emergency stop method

A fuel cell system, comprising: a measurer that measures an impedance of the fuel cell; a controller that controls an operation state of the fuel cell; and an acquirer that acquires a dryness degree of the fuel cell from the measured impedance when the operation state is a first operation state, and acquires the dryness degree of the fuel cell as a wet state when the operation state is a second operation state in which a water balance is more than the first operation state.

Fuel cell system and dryness degree acquisition method

A fuel cell system comprising: an acquirer that acquires a total value of cell voltages of two or more cells included in a fuel cell; and a determiner that determines, when the total value is a first voltage value, abnormal power generation in which power generation by at least a part of the two or more cells is abnormal, that determines, when the total value is a second voltage value higher than the first voltage value, normal power generation in which power generation by the two or more cells is normal and that determines, when the total value is a third voltage value higher than the first voltage value but lower than the second voltage value, the normal power generation if a cathode gas is deficient or the abnormal power generation if the cathode gas is not deficient.

Fuel cell system and power generation monitoring method

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell including an electrolyte membrane, a sensor configured to measure a temperature of the fuel cell, and a controller. The controller is configured to cause the fuel cell to perform a wet operation to increase a water balance at a cathode of the fuel cell to a value higher than a water balance at the cathode during a normal operation of the fuel cell, when the temperature of the fuel cell measured by the sensor is maintained at a first threshold temperature or higher for a prescribed period of time or longer and then the temperature of the fuel cell decreases to below a second threshold temperature that is equal to or lower than the first threshold temperature.

Fuel cell system and method of controlling operation of fuel cell

The fuel cell system includes: a fuel cellthat receives supply of reactant gas to generate power; output characteristic updating means for updating an output characteristic of the fuel cellbased on output current and output voltage measured by a current sensorand a voltage sensor; maximum power calculation means for calculating, using the output characteristic, the maximum power available at the fuel cell; and determination means for determining whether a value of the output characteristic is in an assumed situation where the output characteristic value is assumed to be temporarily lowered, wherein while the output characteristic value is determined by the determination means to be in the assumed situation, the maximum power calculation means calculates the maximum power using the output characteristic updated by the output characteristic updating means just before transition to the assumed situation.

Fuel cell system and maximum power calculation method

A fuel cell module includes: in a casing, a fuel cell stack that is formed by stacking a plurality of unit cells; and an oxidant gas distributing member that is disposed at a side surface, that extends in a stack direction, of the fuel cell stack, that extends in a direction from one end to another end of each of the unit cells, and that supplies the oxidant gas along the oxidant gas distributing member from the one end to the another end to supply the oxidant gas to the another end of each unit cell. The oxidant gas distributing member includes a heat exchange restraint portion that restrains heat exchange between the unit cells and the oxidant gas in at least one of end portions of the fuel cell stack in the stack direction, in comparison with the heat exchange thereof in other portion in the fuel cell stack.

Fuel cell module

A fuel cell module includes in a casing: a fuel cell stack that is formed by stacking a plurality of unit cell; an oxidant gas distributing member that is disposed at a side surface, that extends in a stack direction of the unit cells, of the fuel cell stack that extends in a direction from one end to another end of each of the unit cells, and that supplies the oxidant gas to the another end of each unit cell after supplying the oxidant gas through the oxidant gas distributing member from the one end to the another end; a reformer disposed at the one end; and a combustion portion that is disposed between the one end and the reformer. The oxidant gas distributing member has a higher thermal conductivity at the one end side of the unit cells than at the another end side of the unit cells.

A control deviceobtains a reformed carbon quantity C supplied to a reform reaction flow channelfrom a supplied fuel quantity Qf and also obtains a reformed water quantity S supplied to the reform reaction flow channelfrom a generated power quantity W. Further, it obtains a oxygen consumed quantity consumed through power generation in a fuel cellfrom the generated power quantity W, a supplied oxygen quantity to be supplied to a cathode flow channelfrom a supplied cathode gas quantity Qc, and a reformed oxygen quantity O to be supplied to the reform reaction flow channelbased on a difference between the supplied oxygen quantity and the consumed oxygen quantity. By correcting a reformed carbon quantity C (delivery of a fuel pump) in accordance with the reformed oxygen quantity O, each of O/C and S/C is kept in a target value range.

Fuel cell system and method for controlling the same

A technology for preventing degradation of a hydrogen permeable metal layer in a fuel cellis provided. A fuel cell systemincluding a fuel cellwith an anode which has the hydrogen permeable metal layer comprises a fuel cell controllerfor controlling the operation status of the fuel cell system, a temperature parameter acquisition section for acquiring a temperature parameter of the hydrogen permeable metal layer, and a hydrogen permeable metal layer degradation prevention section which reduces the hydrogen partial pressure in an anode channelfor supplying fuel gas to the anode. If a temperature of the hydrogen permeable metal layer represented by the temperature parameter deviates from a specified temperature range, the fuel cell controllercause the hydrogen permeable metal layer degradation prevention section to operate for preventing degradation of the hydrogen permeable metal layer.

Fuel cell system for preventing hydrogen permeable metal layer degradation

The fuel cell system according to the present invention comprises a reformerfor receiving a hydrocarbon fuel supply and generating a hydrogen-containing reformed gas by making use of a reforming reaction; a fuel cell assemblyfor generating power after causing an anode to receive the reformed gas and causing a cathode to receive an oxygen-containing cathode gas; cathode off-gas supply flow pathfor supplying a cathode off-gas, which is discharged from the cathode, to the reformer; and bypass flow pathfor bypassing the cathode and directly supplying the cathode gas to the reformerat the time of system warm-up.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Satoshi Shiokawa