Fuel cell system and method of controlling fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10930953-B2
Application number	US-201916247764-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 15, 2019
Priority date	Jan 24, 2018
Publication date	Feb 23, 2021
Grant date	Feb 23, 2021

Abstract

A control unit of a fuel cell system acquires a service operating point, repeats a process of calculating a distance between the service operating point and a surging region, while transferring an operating point of a turbo compressor from a first operating point to a second operating point outside the surging region, sets opening degrees of a pressure adjusting valve and a bypass valve such that the turbo compressor operates at a required operating point, when the distance exceeds a threshold, and corrects at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve such that the at least one of the opening degrees becomes larger than an opening degree set such that the turbo compressor operates at the required operating point, when the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system comprising:
a fuel cell;
an air supply flow passage through which air is applied to the fuel cell;
an air discharge flow passage to which the air is discharged from the fuel cell;
a bypass flow passage through which the air in the air supply flow passage is discharged without intermediary of the fuel cell;
a turbo compressor that supplies the air to the air supply flow passage, the turbo compressor being provided upstream of a portion of the air supply flow passage that is connected to the bypass flow passage;
a pressure adjusting valve that is provided in the air discharge flow passage;
a bypass valve that is provided in the bypass flow passage; and
a control unit that controls driving of the turbo compressor, an opening degree of the pressure adjusting valve, and an opening degree of the bypass valve in accordance with a required operating point including an air flow rate and an air pressure that are required for electric power generation of the fuel cell, wherein
the control unit is configured to
acquire a service operating point including the air flow rate and the air pressure in the air supply flow passage while transferring an operating point of the turbo compressor from a first operating point to a second operating point, the first operating point and the second operating point being outside a surging region as an operating point range where surging occurs in the turbo compressor,
repeat a process of calculating a distance between the service operating point and the surging region,
set the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve such that the turbo compressor operates at the required operating point, when the distance exceeds a threshold, and
correct at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve such that the at least one of the opening degrees becomes larger than an opening degree set such that the turbo compressor operates at the required operating point, when the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

2. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit is configured to correct the opening degree of the bypass valve when a difference between the air flow rate at the service operating point and the air flow rate set to ensure operation at the required operating point is equal to or higher than a flow rate determined in advance, in a case where the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

3. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit is configured to reduce an amount of increase in the at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve as the distance increases, in a case where the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

4. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit is configured to make an amount of change in rotational speed of the turbo compressor per unit time smaller than when the at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve is not corrected, in correcting the at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve in a case where the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

5. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the control unit is configured to make an amount of change in the at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve per unit time smaller than when the at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve is not corrected, in correcting the at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve in a case where the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

6. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the distance is a difference between the air flow rate at the service operating point and the air flow rate at the operating point on a surging limit line with a same pressure ratio as at the service operating point,
the threshold is a predetermined ratio of the air flow rate at the operating point on the surging limit line with the same pressure ratio as at the service operating point, and
the surging limit line is a borderline between the surging region and a normal region where surging does not occur.

7. A method of controlling a fuel cell system that is equipped with a fuel cell, comprising:
acquiring a service operating point including an air flow rate and an air pressure in an air supply flow passage in which a turbo compressor is provided, and repeating a process of calculating a distance between the service operating point and a surging region as an operating point range where surging occurs in the turbo compressor, while transferring an operating point of the turbo compressor, which supplies air to the fuel cell, from a first operating point to a second operating point, the first operating point and the second operating point being outside the surging region;
setting an opening degree of a pressure adjusting valve that is provided in an air discharge flow passage through which air is discharged from the fuel cell, and an opening degree of a bypass valve that is provided in a bypass flow passage through which the air in the air supply flow passage is discharged without intermediary of the fuel cell, such that the turbo compressor operates at a required operating point including the air flow rate and the air pressure that are required for electric power generation of the fuel cell, when the distance exceeds a threshold; and
correcting at least one of the opening degrees of the pressure adjusting valve and the bypass valve such that the at least one of the opening degrees becomes larger than an opening degree set such that the turbo compressor operates at the required operating point, when the distance is equal to or shorter than the threshold.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Iio Atsuo
• Tomi Naoki
• Miyamoto Yusuke
• Yamagata Masafumi
• Ishikawa Tomotaka

Classifications

• H01M8/04753 Primary

  of fuel cell reactants · CPC title

• H01M8/04395

  of cathode reactants at the inlet or inside the fuel cell · CPC title

• H01M8/04626 Primary

  of auxiliary devices, e.g. batteries, capacitors · CPC title

• H01M8/04992

  characterised by the implementation of mathematical or computational algorithms, e.g. feedback control loops, fuzzy logic, neural networks or artificial intelligence · CPC title

• H01M8/04111

  using a compressor turbine assembly · CPC title