Fuel cell system, method of controlling fuel cell system, and fuel cell system-mounted vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10886544-B2
Application number	US-201815909752-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2018
Priority date	Mar 31, 2017
Publication date	Jan 5, 2021
Grant date	Jan 5, 2021

Abstract

A fuel cell system FCS includes a fuel cell 10, a high voltage circuit 21 for driving an electromotor 42, and a relay 41 for electrically connecting or blocking the fuel cell 10 to or from the high voltage circuit 21. A control unit 50 obtains insulation decrease information in accordance with a request for starting the fuel cell, and performs, when a specified insulation decrease occurred region is not a fuel cell region SE1 including the fuel cell and the cooling circuit, conductivity reduction process on cooling liquid using a conductivity reduction unit 113 before having a relay 41 connect, and has the relay 41 connect after completing the conductivity reduction process.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system, comprising:
a fuel cell;
a high voltage circuit configured to drive an electromotor;
a relay disposed between the fuel cell and the high voltage circuit, the relay configured to electrically connect or block the fuel cell to or from the high voltage circuit;
a cooling circuit provided with the fuel cell, the cooling circuit including cooling liquid to cool the fuel cell;
a conductivity reduction unit disposed on the cooling circuit, the conductivity reduction unit configured to reduce conductivity of the cooling circuit;
a storage unit configured to store insulation decrease information specifying an insulation decrease region in the fuel cell system where insulation decrease occurred; and
a control unit programmed to:
obtain the insulation decrease information upon receipt of a request for activating the fuel cell,
perform, when the specified insulation decrease region is not a fuel cell region including the fuel cell and the cooling circuit, a conductivity reduction process on the cooling liquid using the conductivity reduction unit, and
control the relay to connect the fuel cell to the high voltage circuit after completing the conductivity reduction process.

2. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the control unit is programmed to:
control the relay to connect the fuel cell to the high voltage circuit without performing the conductivity reduction process when the specified insulation decrease region is not the fuel cell region and a stop period of the fuel cell system is shorter than a predetermined period, and
perform the conductivity reduction process and control the relay to connect the fuel cell to the high voltage circuit after completing the conductivity reduction process when the specified insulation decrease region is not the fuel cell region and the stop period of the fuel cell system is equal to or longer than the predetermined period.

3. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 2 , wherein the control unit is programmed to:
control the relay to connect the fuel cell to the high voltage circuit without performing the conductivity reduction process when the specified insulation decrease region is the fuel cell region.

4. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising:
a secondary battery that is connected to the high voltage circuit,
wherein the control unit is programmed to:
drive, when the conductivity reduction process is performed, the electromotor using the secondary battery before completing the conductivity reduction process, and
control the relay to connect the fuel cell to the high voltage circuit after completing the conductivity reduction process to drive the electromotor using the fuel cell.

5. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 4 , wherein
the cooling circuit includes a cooling liquid pump configured to circulate the cooling liquid, and
the control unit is programmed to perform the conductivity reduction process by driving the cooling liquid pump using power of the secondary battery such that the cooling liquid flows to the conductivity reduction unit.

6. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein
the insulation decrease information further includes information of whether insulation decrease has occurred, and
the control unit is programmed to:
perform, when the insulation decrease information indicates occurrence of insulation decrease, the conductivity reduction process in accordance with the insulation decrease region, and
control the relay to connect the fuel cell to the high voltage circuit without performing the conductivity reduction process when the insulation decrease information does not indicate occurrence of insulation decrease.

7. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising:
an insulation detection device configured to detect insulation decrease in the fuel cell system, wherein
the control unit is programmed to specify whether the detected insulation decrease region is the fuel cell region or a region other than the fuel cell region, generate the insulation decrease information, and store the insulation decrease information in the storage unit.

8. The fuel cell system in accordance with claim 7 , wherein the control unit is programmed to specify the insulation decrease region, generate the insulation decrease information, and store the insulation decrease information in the storage unit when the fuel cell system is stopped.

9. A vehicle, comprising:
the fuel cell system in accordance with claim 1 , wherein
the high voltage circuit, the fuel cell, and the cooling circuit are supported by the vehicle, and
the insulation decrease is insulation decrease between a vehicle body of the vehicle and the fuel cell system.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Oya Ryosuke

Classifications

• Y02T90/40

  Application of hydrogen technology to transportation, e.g. using fuel cells · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• Y02T10/70

  Energy storage systems for electromobility, e.g. batteries · CPC title

• H01M8/04664

  Failure or abnormal function · CPC title

• H01M2250/20

  Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title