Fuel cell system and its startup control

Abstract

Before warmup of a fuel cell stack (1) is complete, a cooling water pressure of the fuel cell stack (1) is suppressed lower than the pressure used when the fuel cell system is run in the steady state. In this way, when the system is started from a low temperature state, water in a cathode (2) and anode (3) flows efficiently into the cooling water passage (9), and water clogging is prevented while maintaining a proper water balance in the fuel cell system.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to fuel cell systems, and more particularly, to start-up control when starting a fuel cell system from a low temperature state. Background technique [0002] Fuel cells convert the energy of fuel directly into electricity. In the fuel cell system disclosed in JP8-106914A published by the Japan Patent Office in 1996, in a pair of electrodes on both sides of the membrane electrode, hydrogen-containing gas is supplied to the positive electrode and oxygen-containing oxidant gas is supplied to the negative electrode. The electrical energy is then released from the electrodes using the electrochemical reactions that take place on the surface of the membrane electrodes, namely: [0003] Positive reaction: <chemistry num="001"> <chem file="02802716_cml001.xml" / > < / chemistry> [0004] Negative reaction: <chemistry num="002"> <chem file="02802716_cml002.xml" / > < / chemistry> [0005] The ...

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Problems solved by technology

[0011] Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel cell stack in which cooling water passages are connected to gas passages and air passages through perforated plates, wherein water in positive and negative electrodes efficiently flows out to the In the cooling water channel, the water balance in the fuel cell stack is maintained and the blockage problem is solved

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