Electric power plant with adjustable array of fuel cell systems
First Claim
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1. An electric power plant comprising:
- a power supply system, the power supply system comprising a power bus, a first and second fuel cell system, each fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell stack, an electrical power storage device electrically coupled in parallel with the fuel cell stack, and means for controlling a flow of current from the fuel cell stack to the electrical power storage device and the power bus, a first switch selectively operable to electrically couple the first fuel cell system in series in the power bus, and a second switch selectively operable to electrically couple the second fuel cell system in series in the power bus;
an oxidant supply system for supplying an oxidant gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks; and
a fuel supply system for supplying a fuel gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks.
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Abstract
An electric power plant includes an array of fuel cell systems. The fuel cell systems are electrically couplable in series and/or parallel combinations to provide a variety of output powers, output current and/or output voltages. The fuel cell systems are “hot swappable” and redundant fuel cell systems may automatically replace faulty fuel cell systems to maintain output power, current and/or voltage.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An electric power plant comprising:
a power supply system, the power supply system comprising a power bus, a first and second fuel cell system, each fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell stack, an electrical power storage device electrically coupled in parallel with the fuel cell stack, and means for controlling a flow of current from the fuel cell stack to the electrical power storage device and the power bus, a first switch selectively operable to electrically couple the first fuel cell system in series in the power bus, and a second switch selectively operable to electrically couple the second fuel cell system in series in the power bus;
an oxidant supply system for supplying an oxidant gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks; and
a fuel supply system for supplying a fuel gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An electric power plant comprising:
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an array of fuel cell systems, the array comprising, a power bus, a plurality of fuel cell systems electrically couplable in series to the power bus, each of the fuel cell systems comprising a fuel cell stack, an electrical storage device electrically coupled in parallel with at least one of the fuel cell stacks, a plurality of switches selectively operable to electrically decouple a respective one of the fuel cell systems from the power bus, each of the switches responsive to an operating condition of the respective one of the fuel cell systems, and at least a first redundancy switch selectively operable to electrically couple a respective first one of the plurality of fuel cell systems in series to the power bus, the first redundancy switch responsive to an operating condition different from the operating condition of the respective first one of the plurality of fuel cells;
an oxidant supply system for supplying an oxidant gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks; and
a fuel supply system for supplying a fuel gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. An electric power plant comprising:
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at least two fuel cell systems, each of the fuel cell systems comprising a fuel cell stack, an electrical storage device electrically coupled in parallel with the fuel cell stack, a series pass element electrically coupled between the fuel cell stack and the electrical storage device, and regulating means for regulating a series pass element electrically coupled between the fuel cell stack and the electrical storage device;
means for selectively electrically coupling the at least two fuel cell systems in series;
an oxidant supply system for supplying an oxidant gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks; and
a fuel supply system for supplying a fuel gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. An electric power plant comprising:
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an array of fuel cell systems, each of the fuel cell systems comprising a fuel cell stack, an electrical storage device electrically coupled in parallel with the fuel cell stack, a first series pass element electrically coupled between the fuel cell stack and the electrical storage device, and first regulating means for regulating the first series pass element electrically coupled between the fuel cell stack and the electrical storage device;
an oxidant supply system for supplying an oxidant gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks; and
,a fuel supply system for supplying a fuel gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. An electric power plant comprising:
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a power supply system, the power supply system comprising a power bus, a first and second fuel cell system, a first switch selectively operable to electrically couple the first fuel cell system in series in the power bus, and a second switch selectively operable to electrically couple the second fuel cell system in series in the power bus;
an oxidant supply system for supplying an oxidant gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks;
a fuel supply system for supplying a fuel gas to at least one of the fuel cell stacks; and
means for selectively electrically coupling the at least two fuel cell systems in series in the power bus, wherein each of the fuel cell systems comprises a fuel cell stack and an electrical power storage device electrically coupled in parallel with the fuel cell stack, the electrical power storage device comprising at least one of a battery and an ultracapacitor electrically coupled to a charging current limiter.
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Specification