Patent ID: 7883813

Claim:
A method of operating a fuel cell system, comprising: purging heavier and lighter than air gases from a system cabinet containing at least one fuel cell stack during a single purge step; and starting-up the fuel cell system after the purging step; wherein an air blower, a purge manifold, and a purge damper are located in the system cabinet; wherein the step of purging comprises: positioning the purge damper to open a first inlet of the purge damper connected to the purge manifold and to close a second outside air inlet of the purge damper; and operating the air blower such that purge air is drawn through the purge manifold from upper, lower and middle zones of the system cabinet; and, wherein the purge manifold comprises a first inlet located in a lower zone of the system cabinet, a second inlet located in a middle zone of the system cabinet and a third inlet located in an upper zone of the system cabinet.