Patent ID: 7041411

Claim:
A water management subsystem for a fuel cell system, comprising: a fuel cell stack, a fuel inlet conduit and a fuel exhaust conduit, the fuel cell stack having a fuel inlet port connected to the fuel inlet conduit and a fuel exhaust port connected to the fuel exhaust conduit, the fuel inlet conduit containing a fuel gas and the fuel exhaust conduit containing an exhaust gas; wherein the fuel gas has a first pressure and the exhaust gas has a second pressure, wherein the first pressure is greater than the second pressure; a first water trap having a first inlet and a first outlet, and a second water trap having a second inlet and a second outlet; a first drain conduit connected in fluid communication at a first end to the fuel inlet conduit, and further connected in fluid communication at a second end to the first inlet of the first water trap; a second drain conduit connected in fluid communication at a first end to the fuel exhaust conduit, and further connected in fluid communication at a second end to the second inlet of the second water trap; and a third drain conduit connected in fluid communication at a first end to the first outlet of the first water trap, and further connected in fluid communication at a second end to the second drain conduit.