Patent ID: 8440359

Claim:
A method for filling a fuel cell system with a fuel during start-up, the method comprising the steps of: providing a fuel cell stack having a plurality of fuels cells, each fuel cell having an active area, the fuel cell stack including an anode supply manifold and an anode exhaust manifold, the anode supply manifold in fluid communication with a source of fuel; providing an anode sub-system in fluid communication with an anode side of the fuel cell stack; determining the volume between the end of each active area adjacent the anode exhaust manifold and an outlet of the fuel cell system prior to supplying the fuel to the anode supply manifold; and supplying the fuel to the fuel cell stack uniformly across the plurality of fuel cells and simultaneously to the plurality of fuel cells to compress any fluids in the fuel cell stack into a volume between an end of each active area adjacent to the anode exhaust manifold and an outlet of the anode sub-system.