Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Shatai Kabushiki Kaisha

Shuji Kurita

Atsushi Ida

Daisuke Hayashi

Takashi Kondo

Keiji Hashimoto

Yushi Suzuki

Daisuke Kanno

Takenori Yamasaki

Nobuaki Nonoyama

Kazunori Shibata

Koro Fujio

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, a mixed gas supply passage, and an agitation mixer. The fuel cell stack includes a plurality of fuel cells each including a power generation portion. The fuel cells are stacked. The mixed gas supply passage is configured to communicate with the fuel cell stack. The mixed gas supply passage is configured to supply a mixed gas to the fuel cell stack. The mixed gas is a mixture of a fuel gas and a fuel off-gas that has been discharged from the fuel cell stack. The agitation mixer is provided in the mixed gas supply passage. The agitation mixer is configured to apply a swirling force to the mixed gas. The agitation mixer includes a guide rib configured to guide liquid water contained in the mixed gas to a side opposite to the power generation portion-side.

Fuel cell system

A fuel cell system that can prevent impurities from intensively collecting near inlets of fuel cells. The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack formed by stacking fuel cells, each fuel cell having a power generation portion, a stack manifold with a fuel gas inlet communication hole disposed at an end of the fuel cell stack in the stacking direction of the fuel cells, a mixed gas supply channel communicating with the fuel gas inlet communication hole for supplying a mixed gas of a fuel gas and fuel off-gas to the fuel cell stack, a stirring mixer for swirling the mixed gas provided in the mixed gas supply channel, and a guide rib provided on the inner wall of the fuel gas inlet communication hole of the stack manifold, on the side opposite to the side of the power generation portions of the fuel cells.

A fuel cell stack includes: a plurality of power generation cells stacked on top of each other; a dummy cell provided on at least one of both ends of the plurality of power generation cells, the dummy cell being configured not to generate electric power; and a reaction gas supply manifold extending through the plurality of power generation cells and the dummy cell. The dummy cell includes one or more dummy cell reaction gas introduction channels as a reaction gas introduction channel that introduces reaction gas from the reaction gas supply manifold to a center area of the dummy cell. At least one of the dummy cell reaction gas introduction channels is provided so as to connect to a bottom face at a lower side of the reaction gas supply manifold in a direction of gravitational force.

Fuel cell stack and dummy cell

A fuel cell stack includes multiple power generating units and a dummy unit, and respectively providing openings providing reactant-gas supply manifolds. Each power generating unit includes one or more first supply passages extending from the opening to a central region thereof. The dummy unit includes one or more second supply passages extending from the opening to a central region thereof, and a second supply passage port at the highest position in the vertical direction among the second supply passage ports where the second supply passages are connected to the opening is located at a lower position in the vertical direction than a first supply passage port at the highest position in the vertical direction among the first supply passage ports where the first supply passages are connected to the opening.

Fuel cell stack

A fuel-cell unit cell comprises: a membrane electrode and gas diffusion layer assembly; a cathode-side separator made of a press-molded plate, the cathode-side separator forming a plurality of cathode gas flow paths and non-flow-path portions therebetween on a cathode-side surface of the membrane electrode and gas diffusion layer assembly; and an anode-side separator made of a press-molded plate, the anode-side separator forming a plurality of anode gas flow paths and non-flow-path portions therebetween on an anode-side surface of the membrane electrode and gas diffusion layer assembly. At least one gas flow path among the plural cathode gas flow paths and the plural anode gas flow paths includes a constricting portion that is configured to reduce a flow-path height in a stacking direction of the fuel-cell unit cells as well as to reduce a flow path cross-sectional area of the gas flow path. When projected and observed along the stacking direction, the plural cathode gas flow paths and the plural anode gas flow paths are configured to have mutually different two-dimensional shapes, there exist intersect positions at which the cathode gas flow paths and the anode gas flow path intersect each other, and the constricting portion is provided at a position other than the intersect positions.

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Toyota, Japan

Shuji Kurita