Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6861167?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=oakley+D523,461
Timestamp: 2014-12-21 08:36:35
Document Index: 78510219

Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'application No. 09']

Patent US6861167 - Fuel cell resuscitation method and apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA fuel cell system includes fuel cells forming a fuel cell stack, having a fuel passage and an oxidant passage. A purge valve is coupled to the fuel passage to exhaust contaminants, and a controller is coupled to temporarily increase the oxidant stream flow rate through the oxidant passage, and to temporarily...http://www.google.com/patents/US6861167?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6861167 - Fuel cell resuscitation method and apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6861167 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/916,213Publication dateMar 1, 2005Filing dateJul 25, 2001Priority dateJul 25, 2001Fee statusPaidAlso published asCA2454683A1, DE60210464D1, DE60210464T2, EP1410456A2, EP1410456B1, US20030022042, WO2003010842A2, WO2003010842A3Publication number09916213, 916213, US 6861167 B2, US 6861167B2, US-B2-6861167, US6861167 B2, US6861167B2InventorsBrian Wells, Tan Duc Uong, Charles Joseph Schembri, Gregory A. James, George Alexander Skinner, Benno GieseckeOriginal AssigneeBallard Power Systems Inc.Export CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (22), Non-Patent Citations (9), Referenced by (14), Classifications (8), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetFuel cell resuscitation method and apparatusUS 6861167 B2Abstract A fuel cell system includes fuel cells forming a fuel cell stack, having a fuel passage and an oxidant passage. A purge valve is coupled to the fuel passage to exhaust contaminants, and a controller is coupled to temporarily increase the oxidant stream flow rate through the oxidant passage, and to temporarily open the fuel purge valve, if a voltage across a pair of fuel cells is less than a defined threshold voltage. In this resuscitation step, the oxidant flow rate can be temporarily increased by increasing a duty cycle of an air compressor by approximately 50% for a duration of between approximately 5 to 10 seconds. The controller can further shut down fuel cell operation if a voltage across a pair of fuel cells is less than a defined threshold voltage in an inter-resuscitation period immediately following the resuscitation step.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION There is a need for improved control and operating systems for fuel cell systems, and for methods of controlling and operating such fuel cell systems, particularly where there is a decrease in performance. Such systems and methods can, for example, detect lower fuel cell stack performance and respond by temporarily adjusting the reactant flow to the fuel cell stack in an attempt to improve performance, and/or shutting down fuel cell stack operation when such an attempt fails.
Sensors 44 of fuel regulating system 54 monitor a number of fuel cell system operating parameters to maintain fuel cell system operation within acceptable limits. For example, a stack voltage sensor S3 measures the gross voltage across fuel cell stack 12. A purge cell voltage sensor S4 monitors the voltage across purge cell portion 36 (the final set 19 of fuel cell assemblies 16 in cascaded design of FIG. 2). A cell voltage checker S9 ensures that a voltage across each of the fuel cell 20 is within an acceptable limit. Each of the sensors S3, S4, S9 provide inputs to microcontroller 40, identified in FIG. 3 by arrows pointing toward the blocks labeled �FCM� (i.e., fuel cell microcontroller 40).
Referring to FIGS. 5-7, the air compressor 78 and cooling fan 84 are grouped together at one end (�air supply end�) of the fuel cell stack 12. Fuel tanks 52 (not shown in FIGS. 5-7) are mountable to the fuel cell system 10 on top of, and along the length of, the fuel cell stack 12. The components of fuel regulating system 54 upstream of the fuel cell stack 12 are located generally at the end of stack 12 (�hydrogen supply end�) opposite the air supply end.
FIGS. 9A and 9B show an exemplary resuscitation method 100 for improving the performance of the one or more fuel cell assemblies 16 after the performance of one or more of the fuel cell assemblies 16 has fallen below a threshold value. Such a performance drop may be particularly a result of insufficient amounts of reactants reaching the electrocatalyst of each fuel cell assembly 16, e.g., when there has been water flooding of one or more of the reactant channels in the fuel cell. The method starts at step 102. In step 104, the microcontroller 40 checks the voltage across pairs of fuel cell assemblies 16. The microcontroller 40 can rely on a digital output of the cell voltage checker S9. For example, if the output of the cell voltage checker S9 is �0� or LOW, the microcontroller 40 determines that the voltage across at least one pair of the fuel cell assemblies 16 is below a threshold voltage.
While any circuit that determines the voltage across one or more fuel cell assemblies 16 is suitable, the cell voltage checker S9 disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/916,115, titled �FUEL CELL ANOMALY DETECTION METHOD AND APPARATUS� and having a common filing date herewith is particularly suited to the described fuel cell system 10. A suitable threshold voltage may be between approximately 0.8 V and 0.85 V for a pair of the fuel cell assemblies 16, where each fuel cell assembly 16 in the pair nominally produces approximately 0.6 V across the anode 22 and cathode 24.
The resuscitation method described above can be performed in a fuel cell system operable at various power outputs or load settings. Fuel cell system 10 can be operated at �low load,� for example below 15 A for the illustrated system 10, when a small number of low power electrical devices are connected to and draw power from fuel cell system, or when the fuel cell system is idling. When operating at low load, the oxidant air flow rate required to maintain a desired stoichiometry (typically about 2.0) may be insufficient to remove water buildup at the cathode, and cathode flooding of one or more fuel cell assemblies in the system 10 may eventually occur. To prevent or at least reduce problems associated with cathode flooding during low load operation, a resuscitation method can be applied at intermittent intervals as part of a water management strategy for low load operation. In this connection, when the fuel cell system is operating under low load conditions (for example, below a threshold power output) the oxidant air flow rate can be intermittently and temporarily increased (typically increasing the stoichiometry above the nominal value) to remove excess water in the cathode, and optionally the fuel purge valve (if present) can be intermittently and temporarily opened. The resuscitation method can thus be performed at defined time intervals when power output is below a threshold level, and whenever the cell voltage checker S9 detect that a fuel cell pair has fallen below a voltage threshold. This threshold can correspond to a voltage of a fuel cell pair that suffers from cathode flooding.
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Strang, "Fuel Cell System Having a Hydrogen Sensor," U.S. application No. 09/916,212, Jul. 25, 2001.3Brian Wells, "Fuel Cells Anomaly Detection Method and Apparatus," U.S. application No. 09/916,115, Jul. 25, 2001.4David S. Manery, "Fuel Cell System Automatic Power Switching Method and Apparatus," U.S. application No. 09/916,239, Jul. 25, 2001.5Jake de Vaal and Harvindra Deo, "Fuel Cell Ambient Environment Monitoring and Control Apparatus and Method," U.S. application No. 09/916,241, Jul. 25, 2001.6Robert Kenneth Parr and Brian Wells, "Fuel Cell System Method, Apparatus and Scheduling," U.S. application No. 09/916,240, Jul. 25, 2001.7Robert Kenneth Parr, "Fuel Cell Controller Self Inspection," U.S. application No. 09/916,117, Jul. 25, 2001.8Russell Howard Barton and Tan Duc Uong,"Product Water Pump for Fuel Cell System," U.S. application No. 09/916,118, Jul. 25, 2001.9Russell Howard Barton et al., "Fuel Cell Purging Method and Apparatus," U.S. application No. 09/916,211, Jul. 25, 2001.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7097748 *Apr 23, 2003Aug 29, 2006University Of MassachusettsElectrolyzer pressure equalization systemUS7135245 *May 16, 2003Nov 14, 2006General Motors CorporationApparatus and method for stack temperature controlUS7183016 *Oct 25, 2004Feb 27, 2007Altergy SystemsIntegrated fuel cell power systemUS7261960 *May 16, 2003Aug 28, 2007General Motors CorporationApparatus and method for internal stack temperature controlUS7323262 *Nov 28, 2003Jan 29, 2008Hydrogenics CorporationMethod of operating a fuel cell power system to deliver constant powerUS7419734May 16, 2003Sep 2, 2008Ballard Power Systems, Inc.Method and apparatus for fuel cell systemsUS7477505Jun 30, 2006Jan 13, 2009General Hydrogen CorporationCapacitor bank for electrical generatorUS7632583May 6, 2003Dec 15, 2009Ballard Power Systems Inc.Apparatus for improving the performance of a fuel cell electric power systemUS8142939 *Apr 15, 2008Mar 27, 2012Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaFuel cell system and method for controlling fuel cell systemUS8697302May 11, 2007Apr 15, 2014Canon Kabushiki KaishaFuel cell system with purge valve and actuator for controlling purge valve with electromotive force of sub-power generation partUS8728641 *Oct 14, 2008May 20, 2014Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Startup gas supply pressure control device of fuel cell systemUS20090110987 *Oct 14, 2008Apr 30, 2009Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Startup control device of fuel cell system and startup control method thereofUS20120258376 *Dec 21, 2010Oct 11, 2012Electro Power Systems S.P.A.Management of Operation of PEM-Fuel-Cell-Stack Backup Electric GeneratorWO2006084080A2 *Feb 2, 2006Aug 10, 2006Joseph Norman AllenSystems and methods for protecting a fuel cell* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification429/432, 429/456, 429/443International ClassificationH01M8/10, H01M8/04Cooperative ClassificationH01M8/04231, Y02E60/50European ClassificationH01M8/04C8BLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionSep 4, 2012FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Aug 27, 2008FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Jan 3, 2002ASAssignmentOwner name: BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS INC., CANADAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:WELLS, BRIAN;UONG, TAN DUC;SCHEMBRI, CHARLES JOSEPH;AND OTHERS;REEL/FRAME:012420/0829;SIGNING DATES FROM 20011024 TO 20011030Owner name: BALLARD POWER SYSTEMS INC. 9000 GLENLYON PARKWAYV5Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:WELLS, BRIAN /AR;REEL/FRAME:012420/0829;SIGNING DATES FROM 20011024 TO 20011030RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google