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US 10,763,526 B2Granted
System and method for fuel cell stack temperature control
AssigneeLG Electronics Inc.
InventorsMichele Bozzolo, Francesco Caratozzolo, David Silveira Erel, Alberto Traverso
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Abstract
Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a fuel cell system configured to modulate the flow of oxidant through the fuel cell system to maintain a desired temperature at the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell system is configured to control the flow of oxidant to maintain the desired temperature in the fuel cell stack based on temperature measurements of fluid outside of the fuel cell stack.
Claims14
A method of operating a fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell stack comprising multiple fuel cells each comprising an anode and a cathode, the method comprising:
- providing, by an oxidant flow control device and at a substantially constant oxidant mass flow rate, an oxidant to the cathodes;
- sensing, by a temperature sensor, a temperature of the oxidant upstream of the fuel cell stack and sending, by the temperature sensor, a signal representing the sensed temperature to a controller;
- controlling, by the controller and based on the sensed temperature, an amount of heat an oxidant heater provides to the oxidant to heat the oxidant by controlling a mass flow rate of an auxiliary fuel output by an auxiliary fuel flow control device to the oxidant heater;
- determining, by the controller, a difference between the sensed temperature and a temperature set point and controlling, by the controller, the mass flow rate of the auxiliary fuel provided by the auxiliary fuel flow control device to the oxidant heater to reduce the difference between the sensed temperature and the temperature set point;
- and
- providing, by a fuel flow control device and at a fuel mass flow rate, a fuel to the anodes,
- wherein, upon initial startup of the fuel cell system from a shut-down mode to a standby mode, the controller provides an auxiliary fuel flow control device set point (AFFCDSP) to the auxiliary fuel flow control device to control the auxiliary fuel flow control device to increase the mass flow rate of the auxiliary fuel to the oxidant heater over time to enable controlled heating of the fuel cell stack to the operating temperature.
4 more elements
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell stack comprising multiple fuel cells each comprising an anode and a cathode;
- an oxidant flow control device in fluid communication with the cathodes and configured to provide an oxidant at an oxidant mass flow rate to the cathodes;
- a fuel flow control device in fluid communication with the anodes and configured to provide a fuel at a fuel mass flow rate to the anodes;
- a temperature sensor configured to sense a temperature of the oxidant upstream of the fuel cell stack;
- an oxidant heater configured to heat the oxidant upstream of the fuel cell stack;
- an auxiliary fuel flow control device in fluid communication with the oxidant heater and configured to provide an auxiliary fuel at an auxiliary fuel mass flow rate to the oxidant heater;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- control the oxidant flow control device to provide the oxidant to the cathodes such that the oxidant mass flow rate is substantially constant;
- control, based on the sensed temperature, an amount of heat the oxidant heater provides to the oxidant to heat the oxidant;
- control the fuel flow control device to provide the fuel to the anodes;
- control the amount of heat the oxidant heater provides to the oxidant to heat the oxidant by controlling the auxiliary fuel mass flow rate;
- and
- determine a difference between the sensed temperature and a temperature set point and control the auxiliary fuel mass flow rate to reduce the difference between the sensed temperature and the temperature set point,
- provide, upon initial startup of the fuel cell system from a shut-down mode to a standby mode, an auxiliary fuel flow control device set point (AFFCDSP) to the auxiliary fuel flow control device to control the auxiliary fuel flow control device to increase the mass flow rate of the auxiliary fuel to the oxidant heater over time to enable controlled heating of the fuel cell stack to the operating temperature.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.