Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Takeshi Ushio

Mitsuharu Imaseki

Narutoshi Sugita

Noriaki Osao

Yoshirou Shimoyama

Kentaro Ishida

Eri Terada

Takayuki Ogawa

Masaru Oda

Tohru Ono

Yozo Kami

Chikara Iwasawa

Yuji Asano

Mamoru Yoshikawa

Syuji Sato

Rieko Okada

Ryu Okano

Koji Moriyama

Katsumi Saitou

Mitsuharu Imazeki

Norio Igarashi

Koji Gouhara

Yukihiko Itai

A fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly, a separator, a fluid channel, a fluid manifold, a plurality of protruding elastic members, and a plurality of sealing members. A fluid is to flow in a stacking direction through the fluid manifold. A connection channel is provided between the plurality of protruding elastic members to connect the fluid channel and the fluid manifold. The plurality of sealing members are provided adjacent to the plurality of protruding elastic members in the stacking direction and extend in a direction to cross a flow direction in which the fluid flows along the connection channel. Each of the plurality of protruding elastic members has overlapping regions that overlap the plurality of sealing members as seen from the stacking direction. The overlapping regions are separated from each other in the flow direction.

Fuel cell

A fuel cell includes a cathode side separator. An oxygen-containing gas flow field is formed on a surface of the cathode side separator. The oxygen-containing gas flow field includes an inlet channel having a plurality of flow grooves connected to the oxygen-containing gas supply passage, an outlet channel having a plurality of flow grooves connected to the oxygen-containing gas discharge passage, and an intermediate channel having flow grooves with both ends connected to the inlet channel and the outlet channel respectively. The flow grooves of the outlet channel are longer than the flow grooves of the inlet channel, and the flow grooves of the outlet channel are narrowed toward the oxygen-containing gas discharge passage.

Fuel cell employing multiple reactant supply passages

A fuel gas inlet, a fuel gas outlet, an oxygen-containing gas inlet, an oxygen-containing gas outlet, and other components, which are disposed at upper and lower portions at both ends in the lateral direction, are provided in a first fuel cell stack. A plurality of cooling medium inlets, a plurality of cooling medium outlets, and other components are provided at lower portions on the long side and at upper portions on the long side respectively. A cooling medium flows from the lower portions to the upper portions through cooling medium flow passages to cool the power generation surface smoothly and reliably.

Solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack

A power generation cell includes a membrane electrode assembly, and first and second separators sandwiching the membrane electrode assembly. The first separator includes an oxygen-containing gas flow field. An inlet buffer area is provided between the oxygen-containing gas flow field and an oxygen-containing gas supply passage, and an outlet buffer area is provided between the oxygen-containing gas flow field and an oxygen-containing gas discharge passage. Plural columnar resistance members are provided within the inlet buffer area and the outlet buffer area. The membrane electrode assembly further includes first and second humidification sections.

A heat exchanger has a heat exchange part that includes a heat supply medium channel with at least one heat supply passage and a heat recovery medium channel surrounding the heat supply medium channel. The heat exchange part is arranged such that, during operation, a heat supply medium passing through the heat supply medium channel exchanges heat with a heat recovery medium passing through the heat recovery medium channel. Cross-sectional space available to accommodate heat recovery medium flow in different sections of the heat recovery medium channel varies according to an amount of heat to be transferred from the heat supply medium to the heat recovery medium in each of the different sections.

Heat exchanger

The fuel cell system is equipped with a fuel cell for generating power by chemically reacting a fuel gas supplied to an anode and an oxygen containing gas supplied to a cathode; an anode off-gas discharge mechanism for discharging an anode off-gas from the anode; a combustion heater for combusting a combustion gas; a dilution mechanism for diluting the anode off-gas by the oxygen containing gas; a first path for introducing the anode off-gas into the combustion heater; a first flow rate adjustment mechanism for adjusting an introduction amount of the anode off-gas into the first path; a second path for introducing the anode off-gas into the dilution mechanism; a second flow rate adjustment mechanism for adjusting an introduction amount of the anode off-gas into the second path; and a control mechanism for controlling actuations of the first flow rate adjustment mechanism and the second flow rate adjustment mechanism.

Fuel cell system

A fuel cell system in which fuel cell flooding is eliminated by providing necessary flow speed of fuel gas within a channel while improving system efficiency of the fuel cell by re-circulating unreacted fuel gas, which has been discharged externally from a circulation channel in order to provide the flow speed within the channel. An exhaust gas storage unit which stores exhaust gas is disposed in an exhaust gas recovery channel, to store exhaust gas discharged from the anode channel of the fuel cell. Fuel consumption can be improved by re-supplying the exhaust gas to the fuel cell again. Furthermore, an exhaust storage unit is maintained at a negative pressure. This allows the flow speed of reactant gas flowing through the channel for fuel gas to be increased at the time of opening the control valve connected to the exhaust gas storage unit. Such an arrangement allows water droplets or the like remaining within the anode electrode of the fuel cell to be removed, thereby suppressing flooding. This improves the system efficiency while suppressing fuel consumption.

A cooling method for a fuel cell using a heat exchanger is provided. The method comprises the steps of: providing an ion exchanger in a circulation system for the cooling fluid; decreasing ion concentration in the cooling fluid by circulating the cooling fluid through the fuel cell and the ion exchanger when the temperature of the cooling fluid is below a thermostat operating temperature; distributing a portion of the cooling fluid discharged from the fuel cell, mixing the portion of the cooling fluid returning from the heat exchanger with another portion of the cooling fluid whose ion concentration has been decreased in the previous step, and returning the cooling fluid mixture to the fuel cell, when the temperature of the cooling fluid is approaching the thermostat operating temperature; and cooling the fuel cell by circulating the cooling fluid through the fuel cell and the heat exchanger after the temperature of the cooling fluid reaches the thermostat operating temperature. By using this cooling method, the cooling fluid having a high conductivity is not distributed to the fuel cell.

Cooling method for fuel cell

A fuel cell system comprises first and second parallel fuel cell stacks () in which a positive electrode and a negative electrode of adjoining terminal electrodes are set to be opposite to one another. First and second conductive plates () are incorporated at ends on an identical side of the first and second fuel cell stacks (). First and second connecting plate sections () extend from the first and second conductive plates () closely to one another under the first and second fuel cell stacks (). The first and second connecting plate sections () are electrically connected by flexible strand wires (). Accordingly, the fuel cell system reliably avoids stress caused by vibration or the like at a connecting portion for electrically connecting the first and second fuel cell stacks () to one another.

The present invention provides a cooling system of fuel cell, which solves the gas biting noise problem by trapping bubble in a coolant, gives protection to a stack (MEA) and the membrane of a humidifier by regulating the coolant pressure of fuel cell and improves the life of a ion exchanger by preventing foreign materials (carbonate ion etc.) from dissolving into the coolant.

Cooling system and cooling process of fuel cell

A cooling system for a fuel cell and a fuel cell powered vehicle are disclosed. The cooling system and the fuel cell powered vehicle have a primary circulation passage adapted to circulate primary coolant for cooling the fuel cell, and a secondary circulation passage adapted to circulate secondary coolant for cooling a heat generating source including at least an electric vehicle motor. The primary coolant and the secondary coolant are driven by primary and secondary circulation pumps that are circulated by a single common drive motor, with the primary coolant being cooled with the secondary coolant in a common heat exchanger.

Growing community of inventors

Utsunomiya, Japan

Takeshi Ushio