Patent ID: 9502724
Filing Date: 2016-11-22
CPC Classification: H01M,Y02B,Y02E

Claim Text:
1. A method of operating a fuel cell system comprising: generating electric power by a fuel cell using fuel gas containing steam, and oxygen-containing gas, and combusts fuel gas remaining unused for generation of electric power, on a first end portion side thereof, wherein the fuel cell has a solid electrolyte, and an oxygen electrode layer and a fuel electrode layer containing a metal which are disposed to interpose the solid electrolyte there between, supplying, by a fuel gas supply unit, the fuel gas to the fuel cell; supplying, by an oxygen-containing gas supply unit, the oxygen-containing gas to the fuel cell; storing, by a storage unit, if any shutdown of operation of the fuel cell should occur, whether the shutdown of operation of the fuel cell is normal shutdown or emergency shutdown, wherein normal shutdown is a shutdown for suppressing oxidization of the fuel electrode layer, and wherein emergency shutdown is a shutdown other than the normal shutdown; controlling, by a control unit, the fuel gas supply unit and the oxygen-containing gas supply unit; and measuring temperature, by a temperature detecting unit, a temperature in a vicinity of the fuel cell, and in a case where the shutdown of operation of the fuel cell stored in the storage unit is the emergency shutdown, and when the temperature during restarting of the fuel cell which is detected by the temperature detecting unit reaches a predetermined temperature in a range between a temperature to change water into steam and a reduction temperature of an oxide of the metal constituting the fuel electrode layer, controlling the fuel gas supply unit at a time of restarting the fuel cell after the shutdown of operation of the fuel cell so as to reduce an amount of fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell to be less than an amount of fuel gas supplied to the fuel cell at a time of restarting the fuel cell after the normal shutdown of operation of the fuel cell.