Fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11367885-B2
Application number	US-202117221023-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2021
Priority date	May 15, 2020
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A fuel cell system herein may include a battery configured to supply electric power to a fuel cell auxiliary device used for activating a fuel cell stack. When remaining electric energy in the battery is higher than an electric energy threshold upon activation of the fuel cell stack, a controller of the fuel cell system may start outputting current from the fuel cell stack after a fuel concentration in the fuel cell stack reaches a predetermined fuel concentration threshold, and when the remaining electric energy decreases below the electric energy threshold while the fuel concentration is being increased, the controller may start outputting current from the fuel cell stack regardless of the fuel concentration in the fuel cell stack. The current can be obtained from the fuel cell stack even when the remaining electric energy in the battery is low.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system comprising:
a fuel cell stack;
a fuel cell auxiliary device used for activating the fuel cell stack;
a battery configured to supply electric power to the fuel cell auxiliary device; and
a controller configured to activate the fuel cell stack,
wherein when the controller activates the fuel cell stack, the controller is configured to:
when remaining electric energy in the battery is higher than an electric energy threshold, start outputting current from the fuel cell stack after a fuel concentration in the fuel cell stack reaches a predetermined fuel concentration threshold; and
when the remaining electric energy decreases below the electric energy threshold while the fuel concentration is being increased, start outputting current from the fuel cell stack regardless of the fuel concentration.

2. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a gas-liquid separator configured to separate residual fuel gas from exhausted gas exhausted from the fuel cell stack; and
a pump configured to return the residual fuel gas separated by the gas-liquid separator to the fuel cell stack,
wherein the controller is configured to start outputting current from the fuel cell stack without operating the pump when the remaining electric energy decreases below the electric energy threshold while the fuel concentration is being increased.

3. The fuel cell system of claim 2 , wherein the controller activates the pump when the fuel concentration exceeds the predetermined fuel concentration threshold.

4. The fuel cell system of claim 1 , wherein the fuel cell auxiliary device includes an injector configured to supply fuel to the fuel cell stack.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Nishida Yusuke
• Toida Masashi
• Ishikawa Tomotaka

Classifications

• Y02T10/70

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

• Y02E60/10

  Energy storage using batteries · CPC title

• H01M16/006 Primary

  of fuel cells with rechargeable batteries · CPC title

• H01M8/0444

  Concentration; Density (H01M8/04492 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B60L58/31

  for starting of fuel cells · CPC title