Patent ID: 7887962

Claim:
A fuel cell system, comprising: a fuel cell stack comprising a plurality of fuel cells, each of the plurality of fuel cells including: an electrolyte membrane sandwiched by a pair of separators, heating means for heating at least one of the separators provided on the at least one of the separators, and control means for controlling actuation and de-actuation of the heating means so that when flooding is determined the heating means is actuated; a voltage sensor for sensing an electromotive force of each of the plurality of fuel cells, and a voltage monitoring section for monitoring the electromotive force sensed by the voltage sensor, wherein the control means controls the actuation and de-actuation of the heating means based on the electromotive force sensed by the voltage sensor, and wherein the control means actuates the heating means for a fuel cell in the plurality of fuel cells when the voltage monitoring section detects that the electromotive force of the fuel cell has decreased more rapidly compared to the electromotive force of the fuel cell under a normal operation.