Patent ID: 7651798

Claim:
A control device for controlling a fuel cell system connected to a motor and a rechargeable battery, and provided with a fuel cell and a reformer for producing hydrogen-rich reformate gas supplied to the fuel cell, the fuel cell system and the rechargeable battery supplying the motor with electrical power, the control device comprising: a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the rechargeable battery; a load sensor for detecting a required power for the motor; means for detecting a state of charge (SOC) of the rechargeable battery; a controller coupled to the temperature sensor and the load sensor, the controller functioning to: calculate a response time of the reformer with respect to the production of hydrogen-rich reformate gas based on the detected temperature of the rechargeable battery when detecting a change in the required power for the motor and based on the detected SOC of the rechargeable battery; and control the production of hydrogen-rich reformate gas from the reformer according to the calculated response time, wherein the response time of the reformer with respect to the production of hydrogen-rich reformate gas increases as the detected SOC of the rechargeable battery increases; and wherein the controller further detects a variation in the required power for the motor and decreases the response time of the reformer with respect to the production of hydrogen-rich reformate gas based on an increase in a frequency of the occurrence that the detected variation in the required power for the motor is greater than a first threshold value and the required power for the motor is greater than a second threshold value; a temperature sensor for detecting an ambient temperature of an external portion of the fuel cell system; and a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the reformer, wherein the controller corrects the response time of the reformer with respect to the production of hydrogen-rich reformate gas based on the detected ambient temperature and the detected temperature of the reformer.