The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 30, 2003
Filed:
Nov. 08, 2001
Masatoshi Iio, Yokohama, JP;
Yasukazu Iwasaki, Yokosuka, JP;
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Yokohama, JP;
Abstract
A reformer ( ) produces a reformate gas by partial oxidation of vaporized fuel with air supplied through a first air supply passage ( A). A hydrogen-rich gas is produced by removing carbon monoxide from the reformate gas with a carbon monoxide oxidizer ( ) and thereafter is supplied to the fuel cell stack ( ). A second air supply passage ( A) which has a smaller cross sectional area than the first air supply passage ( A) is also provided to supply air to the reformer ( ). When substantially no load is applied to the fuel cell stack ( ), the first air supply passage ( A) is cut off with a valve ( A) and a minute amount of air is supplied to the reformer ( ) from the second air supply passage ( A) to maintain a standby operation of the power plant in order to prevent reductions in the temperature of the fuel cell stack ( ).