Patent ID: 6607855
Filing Date: 2003-08-19
Classification: B60L,H01M,Y02E,Y02T

Abstract:
A control system for a fuel cell, comprising:a vapor generation unit which produces a fuel vapor by vaporizing a liquid fuel; a fuel reforming unit which reforms the fuel vapor so as to produce a hydrogen-enriched reformed fuel; a fuel supply unit which supplies the hydrogen-enriched reformed fuel from said fuel reforming unit to the fuel cell; a combustion unit which burns a discharged fuel discharged from the fuel cell and supplies quantity of heat generated by burning the discharged fuel to said vapor generation unit; a fuel vapor temperature detection unit which detects the temperature of the fuel vapor; a temperature detection unit which detects the temperature of the combustion unit; a current detection unit which detects the current generated by the fuel cell; and a control unit which calculates a quantity of heat retained by said vapor generation unit utilized for vaporizing the liquid fuel based on the temperature of the fuel vapor, the temperature of said combustion unit, and the generated current, said control unit controlling a fuel supply command value for said fuel supply unit and/or a current generation command value for the fuel cell based on the calculated quantity of heat retained by said vapor generation unit.