Patent ID: 8304124

Claim:
A method for operating a hydrogen generator comprising: removing a sulfur compound in a raw material, the sulfur compound being adsorbed to a desulfurizer including a desulfurizing agent; generating a hydrogen-containing gas from the raw material passed through the desulfurizer in a reformer including a reforming catalyst; igniting the raw material by an ignitor in a combustor which heats the reformer; starting combustion in the combustor by using the raw material passed through the desulfurizer; increasing an upper limit of an ignition confirmation time of the ignitor after replacement of the desulfurizer, said ignition confirmation time corresponds to the time said ignitor is provided to attempt to ignite said raw material; and carrying out an ignition operation of the ignitor based on the increased upper limit of the ignition confirmation time, wherein the ignition confirmation time is set to a first upper limit when the desulfurizer has been replaced, and the ignition confirmation time is set to a second upper limit, which is less than the first upper limit, when the desulfurizer has not been replaced.