Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Tomotaka Ishikawa

Tomio Yamanaka

Keigo Suematsu

Tomohiro Ogawa

Yusuke Nishida

Yoshiaki Naganuma

Junichi Matsuo

Satoshi Watanabe

Kazushi Akamatsu

Hiroyuki Imanishi

Masahiro Ito

Masashi Toida

Tsuyoshi Maruo

Ryosuke Oya

Ryouichi Namba

Atsuo Iio

Keita Yamaue

Hiroyuki Katsuda

Yusuke Miyamoto

Ryoichi Namba

Shinji Asou

Kenji Umayahara

Manabu Takahashi

Shigeki Hasegawa

Osamu Yumita

Nobuo Watanabe

Yuichi Sakajo

Makoto Mori

Seiichi Tanaka

Hiroyuki Tsunekawa

Hiromi Tanaka

Naoki Tomi

Hironori Noto

Keitaro Yamamori

Yoshikatsu Fujimura

Koichiro Yamashita

Naohisa Tsuchiya

Masafumi Yamagata

Ryoichi Nanba

Mahiro Ozeki

Tomoyuki Nishida

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell including a plurality of stacked cells, a fuel gas supply unit configured to supply fuel gas to a supply port of the fuel cell and return the fuel gas exhausted through an exhaust port of the fuel cell, and a controller configured to control an operation of the fuel gas supply unit. The controller is configured to execute a drain process for draining residual water accumulated in the fuel cell through the exhaust port. In the drain process, a first process in which the fuel gas is supplied to the fuel cell until a pressure in the fuel cell reaches a predetermined threshold pressure and a second process in which the pressure in the fuel cell is reduced after the first process are repeatedly executed.

Fuel cell system

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack and a control device that controls operation of the fuel cell system based on a measured voltage value measured by a voltage sensor. When the fuel cell system is started and a value measured by a temperature sensor is equal to or less than a temperature determined in advance, the control device raises the voltage of the fuel cell stack until a voltage condition determined in advance is met, by supplying a cathode with an oxidant gas before current sweep is started. The control device sets a voltage command value and a current command value such that an operation point of the fuel cell stack is on an equal power line of the fuel cell stack when the operation point is caused to transition in at least a part of a transition period.

Fuel cell system with improved low temperature operation

A fuel cell system includes a plurality of fuel cell units each including a fuel cell, a fuel cell cooling system having a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between a primary-side coolant, and a secondary-side coolant flowing through the fuel cell, and a coolant pump that adjusts the flow rate of the secondary-side coolant, and a controller that controls the fuel cell, a cooling device, and a cooling system that supplies the primary-side coolant from the cooling device to each fuel cell unit. During stop of operation of the fuel cell system, the cooling device supplies the primary-side coolant having a temperature equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature to each fuel cell unit, and the controller activates the coolant pump to cause the secondary-side coolant to flow through the heat exchanger, in one or more fuel cell units in which the fuel cell has a possibility of freezing.

Fuel cell system and method of controlling fuel cell system

A fuel cell system includes a controller that controls actions of the fuel cell system. The controller includes a freezing presence-absence determination unit that performs freezing presence-absence determination, a temperature raising execution unit that performs temperature raising processing for raising a temperature of an exhaust and drain valve, and a thawing presence-absence determination unit. In the freezing presence-absence determination, freezing determination is made when the exhaust flow rate of gas is equal to or lower than a first threshold. In the thawing presence-absence determination, thawing determination indicating that the exhaust and drain valve is thawed is made when the exhaust flow rate of gas is higher than a second threshold. The second threshold shows a flow rate higher than the first threshold.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, a first temperature sensor configured to acquire a first temperature that is a temperature of the fuel cell, a plurality of accessories that is used to operate the fuel cell, a second temperature sensor configured to acquire a second temperature that is a temperature of at least any one of the plurality of accessories, and a controller configured to perform control on the plurality of accessories to execute a warming-up operation of the fuel cell. The controller is configured to execute the warming-up operation when any of a first condition that the first temperature is lower than a predetermined first threshold temperature and a second condition that the first temperature is equal to or higher than the first threshold temperature and the second temperature is lower than a predetermined second threshold temperature is satisfied.

A fuel cell system includes: a plurality of fuel cell units of which each includes a fuel cell, an air supply pipe, an air supply device, an air discharge pipe, and a control unit; and an exhaust pipe connected to the plurality of air discharge pipes and configured to discharge exhaust gas to the outside of the fuel cell system. The control units of the plurality of fuel cell units are configured such that, when one or more fuel cell units included in the plurality of fuel cell units are operating to generate electric power and each of the remainder of the plurality of fuel cell units is not operating to generate electric power, the control unit of the fuel cell unit that is not operating to generate electric power activates the air supply device of the corresponding fuel cell unit.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, an anode gas supply system, an anode gas circulatory system, a cathode gas supply-discharge system, a gas-liquid discharge passage, a gas-liquid discharge valve configured to open and close the gas-liquid discharge passage, a flow-rate acquisition portion, and a controlling portion. After the controlling portion instructs the gas-liquid discharge valve to be opened, the controlling portion executes a normal-abnormality determination such that, when a discharge-gas flow rate of anode gas is a predetermined normal reference value or more, the controlling portion determines that the gas-liquid discharge valve is opened normally, and when the discharge-gas flow rate is lower than the normal reference value, the controlling portion determines that the gas-liquid discharge valve is not opened normally.

A fuel cell system includes fuel cell units each including a fuel cell stack, an anode gas discharge system configured to discharge anode gas from the fuel cell stack, and a cathode gas supply and discharge system configured to supply cathode gas to the fuel cell stack and discharge cathode gas from the fuel cell stack, a mixed gas discharge system configured to mix gas discharged from the anode gas discharge system and the cathode gas supply and discharge system of each fuel cell unit and discharge the mixed gas, and a controller configured to control the fuel cell units. The controller is configured to control at least one of the anode gas discharge system and the cathode gas supply and discharge system of each fuel cell unit to shift a time at which gas to be discharged from each fuel cell unit merges in the mixed gas discharge system.

Fuel cell system and control method therefor

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, an oxidizing gas supply system, a fuel gas supply system, a current control circuit configured to control an output current of the fuel cell stack, a control unit configured to control power generation of the fuel cell stack, and the output current of the current control circuit, the control unit controlling the current control circuit to adjust the output current thereby adjusting a heating value of the fuel cell stack; and a monitoring unit configured to monitor abnormal fuel gas generation, the abnormal fuel gas generation corresponding to a state where the fuel gas in excess of a predetermined allowable amount exists in the cathode. When the monitoring unit detects the abnormal fuel gas generation during execution of a warm-up operation to allow the fuel cell stack to generate heat with a predetermined target heating value, the control unit reduces the output current by reducing the target heating value.

Fuel cell system and control method thereof

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell a temperature acquisition unit that acquires a temperature of the fuel cell, a cell unit voltage sensor that detects a voltage of each of fuel cell units, and a controller that controls the fuel cell system. The controller restricts an output current of the fuel cell when the voltage of the individual fuel cell unit becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined value in a warm-up operation, execute the warm-up operation when the temperature of the fuel cell is equal to or lower than a predetermined temperature, after the fuel cell system receives a start-up request, and stop an operation of the fuel cell system when a stop condition including that the voltage of the fuel cell unit is continuously equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage value for a predetermined time is satisfied after start of the warm-up operation.

A fuel cell system herein may include a battery configured to supply electric power to a fuel cell auxiliary device used for activating a fuel cell stack. When remaining electric energy in the battery is higher than an electric energy threshold upon activation of the fuel cell stack, a controller of the fuel cell system may start outputting current from the fuel cell stack after a fuel concentration in the fuel cell stack reaches a predetermined fuel concentration threshold, and when the remaining electric energy decreases below the electric energy threshold while the fuel concentration is being increased, the controller may start outputting current from the fuel cell stack regardless of the fuel concentration in the fuel cell stack. The current can be obtained from the fuel cell stack even when the remaining electric energy in the battery is low.

An FC (fuel cell) system includes: an FC; a radiator configured to cool a CL (cooling liquid); an ion exchanger provided in a BFP (bypass flow path) branched off from a CFP (circulation flow path) for allowing the CL to circulate between the FC and the radiator; a multi-way valve provided in a branching point at which the BFP is branched off from the CFP; and a pump which circulates the CL. A percentage of the CL that is made to flow through the BFP can be controlled by the multi-way valve. In a case in which a stop time is longer than a threshold time when the FC system is started up, after the CL is circulated through the radiator, the CL is circulated through the BFP at the percentage of 80% or more until electrical conductivity of the CL becomes smaller than a threshold electrical conductivity.

A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell generating electricity when being supplied with anode gas and cathode gas; a supply channel through which the anode gas to be supplied to the fuel cell flows; a discharge channel through which anode-off gas discharged from the fuel cell flows; a discharge valve provided on the discharge channel and opened to discharge the anode-off gas; and a control section controlling opening/closing of the discharge valve. The control section calculates a valve open time of the discharge valve corresponding to a target value of a discharge amount of the anode-off gas by using an aperture ratio of the discharge channel and the target value, and closes the discharge valve based on the valve open time, the aperture ratio of the discharge channel being calculated from a first discharge amount of the anode-off gas, which is discharged by opening of the discharge valve.

Fuel cell system and opening/closing method for discharge valve

A fuel cell vehicle comprises a fuel cell, a power storage device, a drive motor, a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the fuel cell, a detector configured to detect an operation condition of the fuel cell, and a controller. At a start time of the fuel cell, in a case where the temperature of the fuel cell detected by the temperature sensor is below a freezing point, when an output condition of the fuel cell shown by the detected operation condition of the fuel cell continuously corresponds to a predetermined low output condition for a predetermined reference time period or longer, the controller sets a driving state of the fuel cell vehicle to a first driving state that stops power generation of the fuel cell, drives the drive motor by using only the power storage device as a power source and limits a motor output of the drive motor to be equal to or lower than a predetermined first upper limit output.

Fuel cell vehicle and control method of fuel cell vehicle

A controller of a fuel cell system performs cathode gas supply control to raise an average cell voltage of a fuel cell stack by increasing supply of cathode gas to the fuel cell stack, when electric power required to be generated by the fuel cell stack is equal to zero, and the average cell voltage is lower than a predetermined target voltage. Under the cathode gas supply control, the controller sets the target voltage when a predetermined condition indicating that crossleak is likely to occur is satisfied, to a value higher than a reference target voltage as the target voltage in the case where the condition is not satisfied.

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Nagoya, Japan

Tomotaka Ishikawa