Patent ID: 7052787

Claim:
Power generating equipment, comprising: a reformer for reforming fuel gas such as natural gas, town gas, methanol, LPG, or butane to hydrogen rich gas; a first heat exchanger for heat exchange with combustion exhaust gas from a reformer burner of the reformer; a CO transformer for transforming carbon monoxide; CO removing apparatus for removing the carbon monoxide; a process gas burner for burning hydrogen until each reactor becomes stable during startup; a second heat exchanger for heat exchange with combustion exhaust gas from said process gas burner; a fuel cell for generating power using the hydrogen; a third heat exchanger installed in relation to said fuel cell; a cooling water tank for storing water for cooling said fuel cell; a heat exchanger for recovering beat of exhaust gas of said reformer, said fuel cell, or said process gas burner and heating the water to produce hot water; a fourth heat exchanger installed in relation to a duct for passing the combustion exhaust gases from the reformer burner and said process gas burner and non-reacted oxygen gas from said fuel cell; a hot water reserving tank for reserving the hot water, wherein said hot water reserving tank and the first, second, third and fourth heat exchangers are interconnected by piping to form a loop duct, and the water in said hot water reserving tank is supplied sequentially, via the loop duct, through the fourth heat exchanger, the third heat exchanger and the first heat exchanger, in this order, back to said hot water reserving tank; further comprising: a first selector valve installed between the first heat exchanger and the hot water reserving tank; a branch duct branching from an intermediate part between the first selector valve and the first beat exchanger, passing through the cooling water tank and reaching the hot water reserving tank; and a second selector valve installed on the upstream side of said cooling water tank in the branch duct; and wherein during power generation by said fuel cell, when the water in the cooling water tank is above a predetermined temperature, the first selector valve is closed and the second selector valve is opened to pass water through the branch duct to recover heat from said cooling water tank and, when the water in said cooling water tank is below the predetermined temperature, the first selector valve is opened and the second selector valve is closed to not supply water to the branch duct.