Fuel cell system

• US 8,343,675 B2
• Filed: 05/05/2011
• Issued: 01/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Manabe, Kota, Horio, Kimihide
• Primary Examiner(s): Ruddock, Ula C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chmielecki, Scott J
• Application Number:
  US13/101,664
• Publication Number:
  US 20110207011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 607 Days
• Field of Search: 429/431, 429/432, 429/447, 429/462
• US Class Current: 429/430
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0046 relating to electric energy storage systems, e.g. batteries or capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 3/0053 relating to fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/30 for monitoring or controlling fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 58/31 for starting of 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 2250/20 Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/86 Inert electrodes with catalytic activity, e.g. for fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04 Auxiliary arrangements, e.g. for control of pressure or for circulation of fluids
• 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 8/04559 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04589 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04753 of fuel cell reactants
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/04888 of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/0494 of fuel cell stacks
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/241 with solid or matrix-supported electrolytes
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 8/2457 with both reactants being gaseous or vaporised
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/50 : Fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/40 : Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells

Abstract

There is disclosed a fuel cell system capable of stably operating auxiliary devices driven at a high voltage and the like, even in a case where a poisoned electrode catalyst is recovered or a fuel cell is warmed up. On detecting that the electrode catalyst is poisoned, a controller derives a target operation point which is sufficient for recovering an activity of the poisoned electrode catalyst. Then, shift of the operation point from a usual operation point to a low-efficiency operation point is realized so that an output power is held to be constant.

Claims

1. A fuel cell system comprising:

a controller including an inhibition system and first, second, and third determination systems;

a fuel cell which generates a power by use of a fuel gas and an oxidizing gas; and

an air compressor for adjusting an amount of the oxidizing gas to be supplied to the fuel cell under control of the controller;

the controller programmed to;

inhibit supply of the oxidizing gas from the air compressor in a case where predetermined conditions are satisfied with the inhibition system;

determine a target power of the fuel cell at a time when the supply of the oxidizing gas is inhibited with the first determination system;

determine a target current based on the target power and an actually measured voltage of the fuel cell with the second determination system; and

feed back a deviation between the target current and an actually measured current of the fuel cell to a change amount of the actually measured voltage of the fuel cell to determine a target voltage value with the third determination system,

wherein the controller is programmed to stop the supply of the oxidizing gas from the air compressor in a case where an output voltage of the fuel cell is lowered from the vicinity of an opened circuit voltage to a voltage at a low-efficiency operation point with the inhibition system.

2. The fuel cell system according to claim 1, wherein the the controller is further programmed to determine the target power of the fuel cell at a time when the supply of the oxidizing gas is stopped with the first determination system.