Patent ID: 8685577

Claim:
A fuel cell system, comprising: a fuel cell module for generating electricity by electrochemical reactions of a fuel gas and an oxygen-containing gas; a condenser apparatus for condensing water vapor in an exhaust gas discharged from the fuel cell module, by heat exchange between the exhaust gas and a coolant to recover the condensed water, and supplying the condensed water to the fuel cell module, the condenser apparatus including a first condenser using the oxygen-containing gas as the coolant and a second condenser using hot water stored in a hot water storage unit as the coolant; and a control device programmed to control a flow rate of the exhaust gas supplied to the first condenser and a flow rate of the exhaust gas supplied to the second condenser based on at least one of a water level of the hot water in the hot water storage unit, a temperature of the hot water in the hot water storage unit, and a water level of the condensed water in the condenser apparatus, wherein, based on the at least one of the water level of the hot water in the hot water storage unit, the temperature of the hot water in the hot water storage unit, and the water level of the condensed water in the condenser apparatus, the control device is programmed to change the flow rate of the exhaust gas supplied to the first condenser and the flow rate of the exhaust gas supplied to the second condenser such that one of the flow rate of the exhaust gas supplied to the first condenser and the flow rate of the exhaust gas supplied to the second condenser becomes larger than the other.