Nissan Motor Company Limited

Kabushiki Kaisha Saginomiya Seisakusho

Saginomiya Seisakusho, Inc.

Shinichi Kitano

Shinichirou Takemoto

Ichiro Okawara

Kazuhiko Osawa

Michio Omata

A fuel cell system has a fuel cell for generating electricity by reacting a fuel gas with an oxidant gas and an exhaust flow passage for exhausting the fuel exhaust gas exhausted from a fuel electrodeof the fuel cell to the outside. The fuel cell system is equipped with a movable filter device disposed in the exhaust flow passage, so that by activating the movable filter device, water and foreign particles adhering to the filter are quickly scattered by rotational centrifugal force and vibration, thereby preventing the exhaust flow passage from being blocked by the clogging by water freeze and foreign particles and also reducing startup time.

Fuel cell system and method for operating same

A filter device disposed in a moist fluid passage of the fuel cell system includes a fluid introducing path which introduces a fluid that flows in the moist fluid passage, a filter to permeate the fluid introduced from the fluid introducing path and remove foreign matter in the fluid, a fluid discharge path which discharges a fluid that passed the filter, and a rotating driving mechanism, connected with the filter, that rotates the filter so that substances that adheres to the filter are removed by the centrifugal force. In the filter device, water does not adhere to and does not remain in the filter. When leaving the system under the low temperature after the system stops, blockage by freezing the filter can surely be prevented. The complex control and the heat source such as a heater for defrost is unnecessary. Thus, a cheap and compact filter device can be provided.

Filter device

Growing community of inventors

Hidaka, Japan

Shinichi Kitano