Patent ID: 7368193
Filing Date: 2008-05-06
Classification: B60L,H01M,Y02E,Y02T

Abstract:
1. A method of freeze protection for a fuel cell powered vehicle, the method comprising: a) measuring an ambient temperature in the vicinity of a fuel cell vehicle when the fuel cell vehicle has been shut down; and b) providing a flow of moisture-removing medium through the fuel cell when the ambient temperature drops to a predetermined temperature, wherein the medium is flowed through the fuel cell for a sufficient time to remove a sufficient amount of the water in the fuel cell so that the fuel cell is not degraded by freezing of water, wherein for a given engine shutdown, the occurrence of the step of providing the flow of moisture-removing medium through the fuel cell sets a flag so that if the vehicle warms up above the predetermined temperature and then subsequently drops below the predetermined temperature step b is not repeated until the engine goes through another start up and shutdown cycle.