Fuel cell system and control method of fuel cell system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9413021-B2
Application number	US-201414257054-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 21, 2014
Priority date	Apr 26, 2013
Publication date	Aug 9, 2016
Grant date	Aug 9, 2016

Abstract

Provided is a fuel cell system capable of achieving both of improving purge efficiency and preventing deterioration of the fuel cell, and a control method of the fuel cell system. The fuel cell system includes a circulation rate adjusting unit that adjusts a circulation rate of a circulation gas, a first startup purge unit that performs the first startup purge by opening a purge valve in a state where the circulation rate of the circulation gas is increased to be a mixing promotion rate capable of promoting mixing of the fuel gas with the circulation gas at system startup of the fuel cell system, and a second startup purge unit that performs the second startup purge by opening the purge valve in a state where the gas circulation rate is reduced to be less than the mixing promotion rate after the first startup purge.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A control method of a fuel cell system comprising:
a fuel cell for generating power by being supplied with a fuel gas and an oxidant gas;
a fuel gas supply passage for connecting the fuel cell and a fuel tank;
a fuel off-gas discharge passage in which a fuel off-gas discharged from the fuel cell flows;
a fuel off-gas circulation passage for connecting the fuel off-gas discharge passage and the fuel gas supply passage;
a purge valve which is disposed on the fuel off-gas discharge passage and on the downstream side of a connection point with the fuel off-gas circulation passage, and discharges the fuel off-gas by the valve opening;
a circulation device for circulating the fuel off-gas via the fuel off-gas circulation passage; and
a control device for performing a startup purge by dividing the startup purge into a first startup purge and a second startup purge,
wherein the control device has:
a circulation rate adjusting unit that adjusts a circulation rate of a circulation gas by controlling a driving amount of the circulation device;
a first startup purge unit that performs the first startup purge; and
a second startup purge unit that performs the second startup purge after the first startup purge, and

wherein the control method of the fuel cell system includes following steps:
a step of detecting a startup signal of the fuel cell;
a step of increasing the circulation rate of the circulation gas to a mixing promotion rate capable of promoting mixing of the fuel gas with the circulation gas by controlling the circulation device through the circulation rate adjusting unit after detecting the startup signal;
a step of performing the first startup purge by opening the purge valve through the first startup purge unit after increasing the circulation rate of the circulation gas;
a step of performing the second startup purge by opening the purge valve through the second startup purge unit after completing the first startup purge; and
a step of reducing the gas circulation rate to be less than the mixing promotion rate by controlling the circulation device through the circulation rate adjusting unit before completing the second startup purge and after completing the first startup purge,

wherein the control device has a power generation start unit that starts power generation in the fuel cell, and
wherein the power generation start unit starts power generation in the fuel cell after completing the first startup purge.

2. The control method of the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the circulation device includes a circulation pump disposed on the fuel off-gas circulation passage, and
wherein the circulation rate adjusting unit adjusts the circulation rate of the circulation gas by controlling a driving rotational speed of the circulation pump.

3. The control method of the fuel cell system according to claim 1 , the fuel cell system further comprising:
an oxidant gas supply passage in which the oxidant gas is supplied by connecting the fuel cell and an air pump;
an oxidant off-gas discharge passage in which an oxidant off-gas is discharged from the fuel cell flows; and
a dilution part for diluting the fuel off-gas with the oxidant off-gas,
wherein the control unit has an oxidant gas supply amount adjusting unit that adjusts a supply amount of the oxidant gas by controlling a driving rotational speed of the air pump, and
wherein the oxidant gas supply amount adjusting unit increases the supply amount of the oxidant gas until the completion of the second startup purge since a start of the power generation in the fuel cell so as to be more than a load equivalent amount corresponding to a load state in the fuel cell.

4. The control method of the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the control device has a pressure regulating unit that regulates a pressure of the fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell, and
wherein the pressure regulating unit reduces the pressure of the fuel gas during performing of the second startup purge to be less than that during performing of the first startup purge.

5. The control method of the fuel cell system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a step of setting a total purge amount from a soak time of the fuel cell,
wherein an amount of the first startup purge is smaller than the total purge amount, and an amount of the second startup purge is an amount obtained by subtracting the amount of the first startup purge from the total purge amount.

6. The control method of the fuel cell system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the first startup purge is performed when an anode pressure becomes a predetermined pressure.

7. The control method of the fuel cell system according to claim 3 ,
wherein after completing the second startup purge, the circulation device is stopped and power generation is performed by setting a supply amount of the fuel gas and a supply amount of the oxidant gas to correspond to a load.

8. A control method of a fuel cell system comprising:
a fuel cell for generating power by being supplied with a fuel gas and an oxidant gas;
a fuel as supply passage for connecting the fuel cell and a fuel tank;
a fuel off-gas discharge passage in which a fuel off-gas discharged from the fuel cell flows;
a fuel off-gas circulation passage for connecting the fuel off-gas discharge passage and the fuel gas supply passage;
a purge valve which is disposed on the fuel off-gas discharge passage and on the downstream side of a connection point with the fuel off-gas circulation passage, and discharges the fuel off-gas by the valve opening;
a circulation device for circulating the fuel off-gas via the fuel off-gas circulation passage; and
a control device for performing a startup purge by dividing the startup purge into a first startup purge and a second startup purge,
wherein the control device has:
a circulation rate adjusting unit that adjusts a circulation rate of a circulation gas by controlling a driving amount of the circulation device;
a first startup purge unit that performs the first startup purge; and
a second startup purge unit that performs the second startup purge after the first startup purge, and
wherein the control method of the fuel cell system includes following steps:
a step of detecting a startup signal of the fuel cell;
a step of increasing the circulation rate of the circulation gas to a mixing promotion rate capable of promoting mixing of the fuel gas with the circulation gas by controlling the circulation device through the circulation rate adjusting unit after detecting the startup signal;
a step of waiting until a pressure in a fuel gas flow passage of the fuel cell becomes a predetermined pressure to allow power generation after increasing the circulation rate of the circulation gas;
a step of determining whether or not a soak time of the fuel cell is within a predetermined time not to require performing the first startup purge after the step of waiting;
a step of allowing power generation in the fuel cell without performing the first startup purge when it is determined that the soak time of the fuel cell is within the predetermined time;
a step of performing the second startup purge by opening the purge valve through the second startup purge unit after completing the first startup purge, when the first startup purge is performed; and
a step of reducing the gas circulation rate to be less than the mixing promotion rate by controlling the circulation device through the circulation rate adjusting unit before completing the second startup purge and after completing the first startup purge, when the first startup purge is performed;
wherein the control device has a power generation start unit that starts p

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ohgami Osamu
• Ando Akiji
• Miyata Koichiro

Classifications

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title

• H01M8/04097

  with recycling of the reactants (H01M8/04119, H01M8/04104 take precedence) · CPC title

• Y02T90/32

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• H01M8/04231

  Purging of the reactants · CPC title

• H01M2250/20

  Fuel cells in motive systems, e.g. vehicle, ship, plane · CPC title