Fuel cell system with load management
First Claim
1. A fuel cell system, comprising:
- a fuel processing assembly adapted to produce a product hydrogen stream from a feedstock;
a fuel cell stack assembly adapted to receive at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream from the fuel processing assembly and to produce an electric current therefrom to at least partially satisfy an applied load having a magnitude, wherein the fuel cell stack assembly includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks that each have a maximum rated power output, wherein each of the fuel cell stacks has a plurality of operational states that include at least a first operational state, in which the fuel cell stack receives at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream from the fuel processing assembly and produces an electric current therefrom, and a second operational state, in which the fuel cell stack is not producing an electric current, wherein each of the fuel cell stacks has a maximum rated power output, and further wherein each of the fuel cell stacks is adapted to selectively receive at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream and to produce an electric current therefrom.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fuel cell system having partial and/or total redundancy of at least one operational component, such as a redundancy of fuel cell stacks and/or fuel processors. In some embodiments, the fuel cell system includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks adapted to deliver the same maximum rated power output as a comparative fuel cell system having only a single fuel cell stack. In some embodiments, the fuel cell system includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks adapted to deliver more than the maximum rated power output of the comparative fuel cell system. In some embodiments, the fuel cell system includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks having at least n+1 (or total) redundancy compared to a fuel cell system having only a single fuel cell stack. In some embodiments, the fuel cell system includes a control system and/or structure adapted to limit the applied load to the system.
97 Citations
78 Claims
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1. A fuel cell system, comprising:
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a fuel processing assembly adapted to produce a product hydrogen stream from a feedstock;
a fuel cell stack assembly adapted to receive at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream from the fuel processing assembly and to produce an electric current therefrom to at least partially satisfy an applied load having a magnitude, wherein the fuel cell stack assembly includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks that each have a maximum rated power output, wherein each of the fuel cell stacks has a plurality of operational states that include at least a first operational state, in which the fuel cell stack receives at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream from the fuel processing assembly and produces an electric current therefrom, and a second operational state, in which the fuel cell stack is not producing an electric current, wherein each of the fuel cell stacks has a maximum rated power output, and further wherein each of the fuel cell stacks is adapted to selectively receive at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream and to produce an electric current therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A load control system for an energy-consuming device, the load control system comprising:
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an energy-consuming device adapted to apply an applied load having a magnitude to an energy-producing device, wherein the energy-consuming device includes a plurality of devices that each have a plurality of operational states that include a first operational state, in which the device is applying at least a portion of the applied load, and a second operational state, in which the device is not applying at least a portion of the applied load; and
a switching module assembly in communication with the plurality of devices and adapted to selectively control the operational states of the plurality of devices responsive at least in part to a predetermined hierarchy. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A fuel cell system with stack redundancy, the system comprising:
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a fuel processing assembly adapted to produce a product hydrogen stream from a feedstock; and
a fuel cell stack assembly adapted to receive at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream from the fuel processing assembly and to produce an electric current therefrom to at least partially satisfy an applied load having a magnitude, wherein the fuel cell stack assembly includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks that each have a maximum rated power output, and further wherein the sum of the maximum rated power outputs of the plurality of fuel cell stacks is greater than a maximum desired power output of the fuel cell stack assembly. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75)
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76. A fuel cell system with fuel processor redundancy, the system comprising:
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a fuel processing assembly adapted to produce a product hydrogen stream from a feedstock, wherein the fuel processing assembly includes a plurality of fuel processors that are each adapted to receive at least a portion of the feedstock and to produce at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream therefrom, wherein the fuel processing assembly is adapted to produce a maximum desired flow rate of the product hydrogen stream, wherein each of the plurality of fuel processors is adapted to produce an output stream having a maximum flow rate and forming at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream, and further wherein the sum of the maximum flow rates of the output streams is greater than the maximum desired flow rate of the product hydrogen stream. at least one fuel cell stack adapted to receive at least a portion of the product hydrogen stream and to produce an electric current therefrom. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78)
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Specification