Offset control arrangement and method for controlling voltage values in a fuel cell system
First Claim
1. An offset control arrangement for controlling voltage values of a fuel cell system for producing electricity with fuel cells, each fuel cell in the fuel cell system including an anode side, a cathode side and an electrolyte between the anode side and the cathode side, the offset control arrangement and fuel cell system comprising:
- at least one fuel cell array of at least two fuel cells, and at least one load for performing a load function;
control circuitry for at least one offsetting source for monitoring input voltage of the load to obtain monitoring information;
a control processor programmed to monitor the information;
the at least one offsetting source in serial connection to the at least one fuel cell array;
a power level of the at least one offsetting source being substantially low compared to a power level of the fuel cell array, the at least one offsetting source being arranged to perform at least unidirectional shifting of a fuel cell array output voltage to reduce a voltage window apparent to the load based on at least one of the monitoring information and the processed monitoring information; and
disconnection means for disconnecting the at least one fuel cell array from the load, when a reason for disconnection is detected in the input voltage monitoring of the load by detecting that the input voltage rises out of a specified bound.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An offset control arrangement is disclosed for controlling voltage values in a fuel cell system including an anode side, a cathode side and an electrolyte between the anode side and the cathode side. The fuel cell system can include at least one fuel cell array of at least two fuel cells, and at least one load for performing load function. The offset control arrangement can include voltage monitoring for monitoring an input voltage of the load, a control processor for processing the monitoring information, and at least one offsetting source in serial connection to the at least one fuel cell array, with a power level of the offsetting source being substantially low compared to the power level of the fuel cell array, and the offsetting source being arranged to perform at least unidirectional shifting of fuel cell array output voltage.
4 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An offset control arrangement for controlling voltage values of a fuel cell system for producing electricity with fuel cells, each fuel cell in the fuel cell system including an anode side, a cathode side and an electrolyte between the anode side and the cathode side, the offset control arrangement and fuel cell system comprising:
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at least one fuel cell array of at least two fuel cells, and at least one load for performing a load function; control circuitry for at least one offsetting source for monitoring input voltage of the load to obtain monitoring information; a control processor programmed to monitor the information; the at least one offsetting source in serial connection to the at least one fuel cell array; a power level of the at least one offsetting source being substantially low compared to a power level of the fuel cell array, the at least one offsetting source being arranged to perform at least unidirectional shifting of a fuel cell array output voltage to reduce a voltage window apparent to the load based on at least one of the monitoring information and the processed monitoring information; and disconnection means for disconnecting the at least one fuel cell array from the load, when a reason for disconnection is detected in the input voltage monitoring of the load by detecting that the input voltage rises out of a specified bound. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An offset control method for controlling voltage values in a fuel cell system for producing electricity with fuel cells, each fuel cell in the fuel cell system having an anode side, a cathode side and an electrolyte between the anode side and the cathode side, the method comprising:
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monitoring an input voltage of a load of the fuel cell system to obtain monitoring information, which is processed, at least one offsetting source being connected in serial connection to at least one fuel cell array, a power level of the offsetting source being substantially low compared to the power level of the fuel cell array; performing at least unidirectional shifting of a fuel cell array output voltage by the at least one offsetting source to reduce a voltage window apparent to the load based on at least one of the monitoring information and the processed monitoring information; and disconnecting the at least one fuel cell array from the load when a reason for disconnection is detected in the input voltage monitoring of the load by detecting that the input voltage rises out of a specified bound. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification