Fuel cell system and method of running fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018108922-A1
Application number	US-201715713124-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 22, 2017
Priority date	Oct 14, 2016
Publication date	Apr 19, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A fuel cell system includes: a solid oxide fuel cell generating power by using, as fuel, air supplied to a cathode and hydrogen-containing gas supplied to an anode; a combustor generating a combustion exhaust gas by combusting anode-off gas and cathode-off gas discharged from the anode and the cathode, respectively; a reformer steam-reforming a material to generate the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode; a first temperature detector detecting temperatures of the combustion exhaust gas and/or the combustor; and a controller performing, if a temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than a preset first threshold while the combustor is forming flame, at least one of operations of: increasing a ratio of air consumed to the air supplied in the cathode; decreasing a ratio of hydrogen-containing gas consumed to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied in the anode; and decreasing an amount of water supplied to the reformer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A fuel cell system comprising:
a solid oxide fuel cell which includes a cathode and an anode, and which generates power by using, as fuel, air supplied to the cathode, and a hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode; a combustor which generates a combustion exhaust gas by combusting an anode-off gas discharged from the anode of the fuel cell and a cathode-off gas discharged from the cathode of the fuel cell; a reformer which steam-reforms a material, and thereby generates the hydrogen-containing gas to be supplied to the anode of the fuel cell; a first temperature detector which detects a temperature of at least one of the combustion exhaust gas and the combustor; and a controller which performs, if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than a preset first threshold while the combustor is forming flame, at least one of
an operation of increasing a ratio of the air consumed by the cathode of the fuel cell to the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell,
an operation of decreasing a ratio of the hydrogen-containing gas consumed by the anode of the fuel cell to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell, and
an operation of decreasing an amount of water supplied to the reformer.

2 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than the preset first threshold while the combustor is forming the flame, the controller performs at least one of
the operation of increasing the ratio of the air consumed by the cathode of the fuel cell to the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell, and the operation of decreasing the amount of water supplied to the reformer.

3 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller performs the at least one operation if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than the first threshold while the fuel cell continues generating the power.

4 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller performs the at least one operation if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than the first threshold in a case where a hydrogen consumption ratio of the hydrogen-containing gas consumed by the anode of the fuel cell to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell is higher than a preset hydrogen consumption ratio.

5 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller performs the at least one operation if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than the first threshold, and thereafter stops run of the fuel cell system if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than a second threshold which is set in advance at a temperature lower than the first threshold.

6 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
the controller performs the at least one operation if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than the first threshold, and thereafter stops run of the fuel cell system if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is a temperature lower than the first threshold, and is lower than a third threshold which is set in advance at a temperature below which the combustor loses the flame.

7 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
further comprising a second temperature detector which detects a temperature of the fuel cell, wherein if the temperature detected by the first temperature detector is lower than the first threshold, the controller performs the operation of increasing the ratio of the air consumed by the cathode of the fuel cell to the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell such that the temperature detected by the second temperature detector does not exceed a preset fourth threshold.

8 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
further comprising an air supplier which supplies the air to the cathode of the fuel cell, wherein as the operation of increasing the ratio of the air consumed by the cathode of the fuel cell to the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell, the controller controls the air supplier so as to decrease a flow rate of the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell.

9 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
further comprising a material supplier which supplies the material to the reformer, wherein as the operation of decreasing the ratio of the hydrogen-containing gas consumed by the anode of the fuel cell to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell, the controller controls the material supplier so as to increase a flow rate of the material supplied to the reformer.

10 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 , wherein
as the operation of decreasing the ratio of the hydrogen-containing gas consumed by the anode of the fuel cell to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell, the controller controls the fuel cell system so as to decrease an amount of power generated by the fuel cell.

11 . The fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
further comprising a water supplier which supplies the water to the reformer, wherein the controller controls the water supplier so as to decrease a flow rate of the water supplied to the reformer.

12 . A method of running a fuel cell system which includes a solid oxide fuel cell, a combustor, a reformer, and a temperature detector, the method comprising:
in the solid oxide fuel cell which includes a cathode and an anode, generating power by using, as fuel, air supplied to the cathode, and a hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell; in the combustor, generating a combustion exhaust gas by combusting an anode-off gas discharged from the anode of the fuel cell and a cathode-off gas discharged from the cathode of the fuel cell; in the reformer, steam-reforming a material, and thereby generating the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell; in the temperature detector, detecting a temperature of at least one of the combustion exhaust gas and the combustor; and if the temperature detected by the temperature detector is lower than a preset threshold while the combustor is forming flame, performing at least one of
an operation of increasing a ratio of the air consumed by the cathode of the fuel cell to the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell ;
an operation of decreasing a ratio of the hydrogen-containing gas consumed by the anode of the fuel cell to the hydrogen-containing gas supplied to the anode of the fuel cell, and
an operation of decreasing an amount of water supplied to the reformer.

13 . The method of running a fuel cell system, according to claim 12 ,
wherein at least one of the operation of increasing the ratio of the air consumed by the cathode of the fuel cell to the air supplied to the cathode of the fuel cell, and the operation of decreasing the amount of water supplied to the reformer is performed if the temperature detected by the temperature detector is lower than the preset threshold while the combustor is forming the flame.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ukai Kunihiro

Classifications

• H01M8/04335

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

• H01M8/04776

  at auxiliary devices, e.g. reformer, compressor, burner · CPC title

• H01M8/04753

  of fuel cell reactants · CPC title

• H01M8/0494

  of fuel cell stacks · CPC title

• H01M8/04156

  with product water removal · CPC title