Control device for fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9401519-B2
Application number	US-201214348957-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2012
Priority date	Oct 3, 2011
Publication date	Jul 26, 2016
Grant date	Jul 26, 2016

Abstract

A fuel cell system includes, an oxidant feeder configured to supply an oxidant to a fuel cell, an oxidant passage which communicates with the fuel cell, a bypass passage which branches from the oxidant passage and along which part of the oxidant flows so as to bypass the fuel cell, a bypass valve which is provided in the bypass passage, an oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit which is configured to supply the quantity of flow of the oxidant corresponding to an amount of electricity required by the fuel cell, and an oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for a sound vibration mode configured to supply a constant quantity of flow of the oxidant, and further includes a bypass valve control unit configured to control the bypass valve according to a requirement of the fuel cell when the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode controls the oxidant feeder.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fuel cell system which supplies power to an external load with a storage cell and a fuel cell, the fuel cell system comprising:
an oxidant feeder configured to supply an oxidant to the fuel cell;
an oxidant passage which communicates with the fuel cell and along which the oxidant supplied from the oxidant feeder flows;
a bypass passage which branches from the oxidant passage upstream with respect to the fuel cell and along which part of the oxidant supplied by the oxidant feeder flows so as to bypass the fuel cell;
a bypass valve which is provided in the bypass passage and which is configured to adjust a quantity of flow of the oxidant flowing along the bypass passage;
an oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit configured to supply, with the oxidant feeder, the quantity of flow of the oxidant corresponding to an amount of electricity required of the fuel cell; and
an oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for a sound vibration mode configured to supply, with the oxidant feeder, a constant quantity of flow of the oxidant,
wherein a control device for the fuel cell system includes a bypass valve control unit configured to control the bypass valve according to a requirement of the fuel cell when the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode controls the oxidant feeder.

2. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode is configured to control, when a sound pressure level of an operating sound of the oxidant feeder is higher than a sound pressure level of background noise, the oxidant feeder such that the constant quantity of flow of the oxidant is supplied.

3. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode is configured to control, when a vehicle is at rest, when the vehicle travels at a low speed, when a shift range is a parking range, when the shift range is a neutral range, when a quiet mode is set or when the fuel cell is in a low electric generation state, the oxidant feeder such that the constant quantity of flow of the oxidant is supplied.

4. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 , the control device further comprising:
a pressure adjustment valve configured to adjust a pressure of the oxidant flowing along the oxidant passage;
a surge determination unit configured to determine whether or not a surge is likely to occur in the oxidant feeder; and
a pressure adjustment valve control unit configured to increase a degree of opening of the pressure adjustment valve when the surge is likely to occur.

5. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 , the control device further comprising:
a pressure adjustment valve configured to adjust a pressure of the oxidant flowing along the oxidant passage;
a differential pressure determination unit configured to determine whether or not a differential pressure between the oxidant and hydrogen supplied to the fuel cell exceeds a membrane resistance differential pressure of the fuel cell; and
a pressure adjustment valve control unit configured to increase a degree of opening of the pressure adjustment valve when the differential pressure exceeds the membrane resistance differential pressure.

6. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode is configured to control, when the bypass valve is open, the oxidant feeder such that the constant quantity of flow of the oxidant is supplied.

7. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode is configured to control, when an amount of the oxidant for diluting waste hydrogen is higher than an amount of the oxidant required for electric generation, when an operation in which the quantity of flow of the oxidant flowing along the bypass passage is increased is being performed, when an operation is performed so as to avoid a surge or immediately after starting up, the oxidant feeder such that the constant quantity of flow of the oxidant is supplied.

8. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 , the control device further comprising:
a surplus computation unit configured to compute surplus generated power when the constant quantity of flow of the oxidant is supplied from the oxidant feeder,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode is configured to control, when target generated power of the fuel cell exceeds the surplus generated power, the oxidant feeder such that the amount of the oxidant supplied is increased.

9. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit for the sound vibration mode is configured to control the oxidant feeder such that a predetermined rotation speed is not exceeded.

10. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the oxidant quantity-of-flow control unit supplies the quantity of flow of oxidant, when a sound pressure level of the oxidant feeder is higher than a predetermined value.

11. The control device for the fuel cell system according to claim 10 , the control device further comprising:
a pressure adjustment valve configured to adjust a pressure of the oxidant flowing along the oxidant passage;
a surge determination unit configured to determine whether or not a surge is likely to occur in the oxidant feeder; and
a pressure adjustment valve control unit configured to increase a degree of opening of the pressure adjustment valve when the surge is likely to occur.

Assignees

• Nissan Motor

Inventors

• Kumada Mitsunori
• Asai Yoshitomo

Classifications

• Y02T10/7044

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y02T10/645

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01M8/04104

  Regulation of differential pressures · CPC title

• H01M8/04201 Primary

  Reactant storage and supply, e.g. means for feeding, pipes · CPC title

• B60L1/003 Primary

  to auxiliary motors, e.g. for pumps, compressors · CPC title