Fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11637303-B2
Application number	US-202217678209-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 23, 2022
Priority date	Mar 31, 2021
Publication date	Apr 25, 2023
Grant date	Apr 25, 2023

Abstract

A fuel cell system includes a first ion exchanger, a first fuel cell stack and a second fuel cell stack, a first temperature acquisition part and a second temperature acquisition part, a first power generation time acquisition part and a second power generation time acquisition part, a supply path, an ion concentration estimation part that estimates ion concentration of a refrigerant on the basis of the ion concentration estimated by the ion concentration estimation part, a determination part that determines an exchange timing of the first ion exchanger on the basis of the ion concentration estimated by the ion concentration estimation part, and a control part, and a first refrigerant flow path and a second refrigerant flow path are provided in series or in parallel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system comprising:
a plurality of fuel cell stacks;
a first ion exchanger configured to reduce an ion concentration in a refrigerant;
a temperature acquisition part configured to acquire a temperature of the refrigerant in a plurality of refrigerant flow paths on a downstream side of the plurality of fuel cell stacks of the plurality of refrigerant flow paths for supplying the refrigerant to each of the plurality of fuel cell stacks;
a power generation time acquisition part configured to acquire a power generation time of the plurality of fuel cell stacks;
a supply path configured to supply the refrigerant discharged from the plurality of fuel cell stacks to the first ion exchanger;
an ion concentration estimation part configured to estimate the ion concentration of the refrigerant based on at least one of the temperature of the refrigerant acquired by the temperature acquisition part and the power generation time of the plurality of fuel cell stacks acquired by the power generation time acquisition part;
a determination part configured to determine an exchange timing of the first ion exchanger based on the ion concentration estimated by the ion concentration estimation part; and
a control part configured to control the plurality of fuel cell stacks, the temperature acquisition part, the power generation time acquisition part, the ion concentration estimation part, and the determination part,
wherein the plurality of refrigerant flow paths are provided in series or in parallel.

2. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein the ion concentration estimation part estimates that, as the temperature of the refrigerant in the fuel cell stacks acquired by the temperature acquisition part becomes higher, an amount of ion elution from the refrigerant increases, and
the determination part determines the exchange timing of the first ion exchanger according to an integrated value of the ion concentration estimated from the temperature of the refrigerant acquired by the temperature acquisition part.

3. The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a pumping part configured to supply the refrigerant according to a required output of the plurality of fuel cell stacks;
a stop time acquisition part configured to acquire a stop time of the plurality of fuel cell stacks; and
an outside air temperature information acquisition part configured to acquire outside air temperature information while the fuel cell stacks are stopped,
wherein the control part determines an amount of discharge of the refrigerant that is pumped by the pumping part at startup when the plurality of fuel cell stacks start based on at least one of the stop time and the outside air temperature information, and when the plurality of fuel cell stacks start, the pumping part performs control based on the amount of discharge at startup in preference to pumping control according to the required output.

4. The fuel cell system according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of fuel cell stacks are provided in parallel,
a branch flow path configured to allow selective branching of the refrigerant in the supply path and to return the refrigerant to the refrigerant flow path on an upstream side of the plurality of fuel cell stacks, and a second ion exchanger provided in the branch flow path are included, and
the control part controls a flow time for allowing the refrigerant to flow to the branch flow path at least based on the stop time when the plurality of fuel cell stacks start.

5. The fuel cell system according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of fuel cell stacks include a first fuel cell stack and a second fuel cell stack, and
the control part circulates the refrigerant between the first fuel cell stack and the second fuel cell stack when there is a difference of a predetermined value or more between the power generation time of the first fuel cell stack at startup acquired by the power generation time acquisition part and the power generation time of the second fuel cell stack at startup acquired by the power generation time acquisition part.

6. The fuel cell system according to claim 3 , wherein the plurality of fuel cell stacks are provided in parallel,
a branch flow path configured to selectively branch the refrigerant in the supply path and to return the refrigerant to the refrigerant flow path on an upstream side of the plurality of fuel cell stacks, and a second ion exchanger provided in the branch flow path are included, and
the control part controls a flow time for allowing the refrigerant to flow to the branch flow path at least based on the power generation time when the plurality of fuel cell stacks are stopped.

7. The fuel cell system according to claim 5 , wherein the plurality of fuel cell stacks include a first fuel cell stack and a second fuel cell stack, and
the control part circulates the refrigerant between the first fuel cell stack and the second fuel cell stack when there is a difference of a predetermined value or more between the stop time of the first fuel cell stack acquired by the stop time acquisition part and the stop time of the second fuel cell stack acquired by the stop time acquisition part.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamano Naoki
• Tamura Takuya

Classifications

• H01M8/04044 Primary

  Purification of heat exchange media · CPC title

• H01M8/04679

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title

• B60L50/72 Primary

  Constructional details of fuel cells specially adapted for electric vehicles · CPC title

• H01M8/04358

  of the coolant · CPC title

• H01M8/04619

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title