Patent ID: 8384342

Claim:
A fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell configured to cause reactant gas to be electrochemically reacted to generate electrical power when the reactant gas is supplied to the fuel cell; power consuming equipment operable to consume electrical power generated by the fuel cell, the power consuming equipment including a reactant gas supply apparatus configured to supply the reactant gas to the fuel cell and a heating device configured to heat coolant supplied to the fuel cell; and a controller for controlling operation of the fuel cell; wherein during a warm-up operation, the controller causes the reactant gas supply apparatus to start a flow of the reactant gas and to increase the flow of the reactant gas over time, such that the reactant gas supply apparatus starts to consume power and consumes increased power over time; and wherein after the reactant gas supply apparatus starts to consume a predetermined power increased by the increased flow of the reactant gas, the controller causes the heating device to start heating the coolant supplied to the fuel cell such that the heating device consumes power.