Patent ID: 7037613

Claim:
The method of producing electricity at an auxiliary power unit in a vehicle comprising: adding a fuel and a reactant to a fuel reformer; producing a reformate at said fuel reformer; introducing said reformate to a fuel cell stack; producing electrical power at said fuel cell stack; sensing a reformer zone temperature at a reformer zone, said fuel reformer being positioned within said reformer zone; determining whether said reformer zone temperature is at a first selected temperature range; adding a first process air flow to said reformer zone if said reformer zone temperature rises above said first selected temperature ranges; sensing a hot zone temperature at a hot zone, said fuel cell stack being positioned within said hot zone wherein said hot zone is distinct from said reformer zone; determining whether said hot zone temperature is at a second selected temperature range; and adding a second process air flow to said hot zone if said hot zone temperature rises above said second selected temperature range.