Patent ID: 7981556

Claim:
A method of thermal management in a regenerative fuel cell system comprising: operating a fuel cell; producing electricity, water and heat from said operation of said fuel cell; storing said water and heat in a container; sensing the temperature of water in a phase separator; automatically draining water from said phase separator into said container if said temperature is below a first predetermined threshold; determining the water level in said phase separator; and, increasing the temperature of water in the phase separator by automatically circulating water and heat from said container to said phase separator when said water level is below a second predetermined threshold; and automatically circulating water through said electrolysis stack when said water level in said phase separator is above a third predetermined threshold; and monitoring the temperature of the water returning from the electrolysis cell stack; and, circulating water from said phase separator through said electrolysis cell stack until the difference between the temperature of the water going to said electrolysis cell stack and the return water is below a fourth threshold.