Patent ID: 8691458

Claim:
A fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell having a cell laminate formed by laminating a plurality of single cells, each of the single cells having an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, an electrolyte membrane existing between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, and a fuel gas flow channel for supplying fuel gas to the anode electrode and an oxidation gas flow channel for supplying oxidation gas to the cathode electrode, and a controller being programmed to estimate residual water content distributions in the fuel gas flow and oxidation gas flow channels in a cell plane of each single cell while taking into consideration water transfer that occurs between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode via the electrolyte membrane, and the controller programmed to set, based on at least one of the estimated residual water content in the fuel gas flow channel, the estimated residual water content in the oxidation gas flow channel, and total amount thereof, a scavenging time used in a scavenging process for the fuel cell after the fuel cell system is shut down.