Patent ID: 7846569

Claim:
A method for operating a fuel cell system that is configured to receive an applied load and which comprises a fuel processing assembly configured to produce a feed stream containing hydrogen gas, and a fuel cell system having a currently available power output and configured to receive at least a portion of the feed stream and to produce electrical power therefrom, the method comprising: producing a feed stream with the fuel processing assembly operating at a rate of production of the feed stream; delivering at least a portion of the feed stream to a fuel cell stack; operating the fuel cell system under conditions wherein the applied load is less than the currently available power output at least a portion of the time; and selectively diverting, as a diverted portion, a portion of the feed stream from delivery to the fuel cell stack responsive to the applied load being less than the currently available power output, wherein the selectively diverting step does not include stopping the production of the feed stream by the fuel processing assembly.