Patent ID: 9748590
Date: 2017-08-29
CPC Classifications: H01M,Y02E

Claim:
1. A fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell including a membrane-electrode assembly in which electrodes, each having a catalyst layer, are arranged on both surfaces of a polymer electrolyte membrane; and a control apparatus which performs performance restoration processing for the catalyst layer by decreasing an output voltage of the fuel cell to a predetermined voltage, wherein, when an oxide film formed on the catalyst layer during power generation of the fuel cell contains, in addition to a first oxide film that can be removed by decreasing the output voltage of the fuel cell to a first oxide film removal voltage, a second oxide film that can be removed by decreasing the output voltage of the fuel cell to a second oxide film removal voltage which is lower than the first oxide film removal voltage, the control apparatus estimates at least one of: an amount of second oxide film and an amount of performance degradation of the catalyst layer caused by the second oxide film and performs the performance restoration processing only when the estimated amount satisfies a predetermined condition, wherein the control apparatus performs the performance restoration processing by setting the predetermined voltage so as to be equal to or lower than the second oxide film removal voltage.