Fuel cell power plant system for moving bodies and control method thereof

• US 7,255,946 B2
• Filed: 09/05/2003
• Issued: 08/14/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Iwasaki, Yasukazu, Nakaji, Yoshiharu
• Primary Examiner(s): Cantelmo; Gregg
• Application Number:
  US10/654,886
• Publication Number:
  US 20040048118A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,439 Days
• Field of Search: 429/9, 429/13, 429 22- 24, 700/286, 700/291
• US Class Current: 429/429
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2240/64 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/30 for monitoring or controlling fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/33 by cooling
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/34 by heating
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 16/006 of fuel cells with rechargeable batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04007 related to heat exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04029 Heat exchange using liquids
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04097 with recycling of the reactants H01M8/04119, H01M8/04104 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04225 during start-up
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04228 during shut-down
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04302 applied during start-up
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04303 applied during shut-down
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04373 of auxiliary devices, e.g. reformers, compressors, burners
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04626 of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04701 Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04768 of the coolant
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04925 Power, energy, capacity or load
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04955 Shut-off or shut-down of fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/2457 with both reactants being gaseous or vaporised
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 : Fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/72 : Electric energy management in electromobility
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/92 : Energy efficient charging or discharging systems for batteries, ultracapacitors, supercapacitors or double-layer capacitors specially adapted for vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 : Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 : Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

A fuel cell power plant system for a moving body includes a drive device (2) for driving the moving body by receiving power,-a power plant (10) having a fuel cell (1) for supplying power to the drive device (2) and a fuel supply device (3) which supplies fuel required by the fuel cell (1) to generate power, and a controller (6). When the moving body has stopped, the controller (6) selects one operating mode from plural operating modes according to the running state of the power plant (10), the fuel cell (1) not generating power to be supplied to the drive device in the plural operating modes, and controls the power plant (10) based on the selected operating mode.

Claims

1. A control method for a fuel cell power plant system for a moving body, the system including a drive device which drives the moving body by receiving power, and a power plant having a fuel cell supplying power to the drive device and a fuel supply device which supplies fuel required for the fuel cell to generate power to the fuel cell, the method comprising:

when the moving body has stopped, selecting one operating mode from plural operating modes according to a running state of the power plant, the fuel cell not generating power to be supplied to the drive device in the plural operating modes;

controlling the power plant based on the selected operating mode;

counting running time and stopping time of the power plant; and

selecting one operating mode from the plural operating modes based on the running time before the power plant enters a standby state, and the stopping time after the power plant enters the standby state.

2. The control method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a complete stop mode which completely stops power generation by the power plant as the operating mode of the power plant, the longer is the running time before the power plant enters the standby state, and the shorter is the time after the power plant enters the standby state.

3. The control method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a heat generation/dissipation balance mode which causes the power plant to generate power so as to maintain a temperature at which the power plant can maintain an active state, as the operating mode of the power plant, the shorter is the running time before the power plant enters the standby state, and the longer is the time after the power plant enters the standby state.

4. A control method for a fuel cell power plant system for a moving body, the system including a drive device which drives the moving body by receiving power, and a power plant having a fuel cell supplying power to the drive device and a fuel supply device which supplies fuel required for the fuel cell to generate power to the fuel cell, the method comprising:

when the moving body has stopped, selecting one operating mode from plural operating modes according to a running state of the power plant, the fuel cell not generating power to be supplied to the drive device in the plural operating modes;

controlling the power plant based on the selected operating mode;

detecting a temperature of the power plant;

selecting one operating mode from the plural operating modes based on the temperature of the power plant;

detecting a charge state of a battery, the battery being charged by the power generation of the fuel cell and supplying power to the drive device;

selecting one operating mode from the plural operating modes based on the charge state of the battery and the temperature of the power plant;

selecting a power generation/consumption balance mode which causes the power plant to generate power according to a power consumption of electronic parts including the controller as the operating mode of the power plant regardless of the temperature of the power plant, when the charge state of the battery is less than a predetermined charge state threshold;

selecting a heat generation/dissipation balance mode so that a temperature is maintained at which the power plant can maintain an active state as the operating mode of the power plant, when the charge state of the battery is more than the predetermined charge state threshold, and the temperature of the power plant is less than a predetermined temperature threshold; and

selecting a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to completely stop generating power as the operating mode of the power plant, when the charge state of the battery is more than the predetermined charge state threshold, and the temperature of the power plant is higher than the predetermined temperature threshold.

5. The control method as defined in claim 4 further comprising:

detecting a temperature of the fuel supply device as the temperature of the power plant.

6. The control method as defined in claim 4, further comprising:

modifying the threshold value for selecting the operating mode of the power plant according to a running state of the moving body.

7. The control method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

detecting a displacement speed of the moving body;

detecting a load of the moving body; and

estimating a weight of the moving body based on the displacement speed and load of the moving body.

8. The control method as defined in claim 7, further comprising:

modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant, when the estimated weight of the moving body is more than a predetermined weight threshold.

9. The control method as defined in claim 7, further comprising:

modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant, as the estimated weight of the moving body increases.

10. The control method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

detecting a displacement speed of the moving body; and

estimating a type of road on which the moving body is traveling based on the displacement speed of the moving body.

11. The control method as defined in claim 10, further comprising:

estimating that the moving body is traveling on an expressway when an average value of the displacement speed is high; and

when it is estimated that the moving body is traveling on the expressway, modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant.

12. The control method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

detecting a displacement speed of the moving body;

detecting a braking state of the moving body;

detecting a blinker state of the moving body; and

estimating the state when the moving body has stopped based on the displacement speed, braking state and blinker state of the moving body.

13. The control method as defined in claim 12, further comprising:

modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant, when the displacement speed is zero, braking is performed and a blinker is operating.

14. The control method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

detecting a load of the moving body; and

estimating a power of the moving body from the load of the moving body.

15. The control method as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

statistically analyzing the load of the moving body, and when a cumulative frequency of a predetermined region exceeds a predetermined rate, modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant.

16. The control method as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

statistically analyzing the load of the moving body, and when a median value of the load exceeds a predetermined value, modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant.

17. The control method as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

statistically analyzing the load of the moving body, and when a most frequent value of the load exceeds a predetermined value, modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant.

18. The control method as defined in claim 14, further comprising:

statistically analyzing the frequency of the load, and when an average value of the load exceeds a predetermined value, modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant.

19. The control method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

predicting a time when high power of the power plant will be required from information from a navigation system, the navigation system receiving position information about the moving body; and

when the time until the predicted time is less than a predetermined time, modifying the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant so that there are fewer occasions when a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to stop generating power completely is selected as the operating mode of the power plant.

20. The control method as defined in claim 6, further comprising:

storing the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant in a rewritable memory.

21. The control method as defined in claim 20, further comprising:

updating the value stored in the rewritable memory when the threshold used for selecting the operating mode of the power plant is modified, and subsequently selecting the operating mode of the power plant using the updated value.

22. A control method for a fuel cell power plant system for a moving body, the system including a drive device which drives the moving body by receiving power, and a power plant having a fuel cell supplying power to the drive device and a fuel supply device which supplies fuel required for the fuel cell to generate power to the fuel cell, the method comprising:

when the moving body has stopped, selecting one operating mode from plural operating modes according to a running state of the power plant, the fuel cell not generating power to be supplied to the drive device in the plural operating modes;

controlling the power plant based on the selected operating mode;

detecting a charge state of a battery, the battery being charged by the power generation of the fuel cell and supplying power to the drive device;

counting running time and stopping time of the power plant; and

selecting one operating mode from the plural operating modes based on the charge state of the battery, the running time before the power plant enters a standby state and the stopping time after the power plant enters the standby state.

23. The control method as defined in claim 22, further comprising:

selecting a power generation/consumption balance mode which causes the power plant to generate power according to a power consumption of electronic parts including the controller as the operating mode of the power plant regardless of the running time before the power plant enters the standby state, when the charge state of the battery is less than a predetermined charge state threshold; and

when the charge state of the battery is more than the predetermined charge state threshold, tending to select a complete stop mode which causes the power plant to completely stop generating power as the operating mode of the power plant, the longer is the running time before the power plant enters the standby state, or the shorter is the stopping time after the power plant enters the standby state, and tending to select a heat generation/dissipation balance mode so that a temperature is maintained at which the power plant can maintain an active state as the operating mode of the power plant, the shorter is the running time before the power plant enters the standby state, or the longer is the stopping time after the power plant enters the standby state.