SOFC system and method to decrease anode oxidation
AssigneeBloom Energy Corporation
InventorsVijay Radhakrishnan, Manoj Pillai, Tad Armstrong, Padiadpu Shankara Anantha
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A solid oxide fuel cell system and method, the system including a hotbox containing a fuel cell stack, a fuel supply configured to provide a fuel to the fuel cell stack, and a blower configured to provide air to the fuel cell stack. During a shutdown operation, the blower is configured to cool the fuel cell stack at a rate ranging from about 0.75° C./min to about 3.0° C./min, until the temperature of the fuel cell stack is reduced to a temperature at which oxidation of anodes of the fuel cell stack is substantially prevented.
Claims20
A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, comprising:
- a hotbox comprising a fuel cell stack;
- a fuel supply configured to provide a fuel to the fuel cell stack;
- a fuel valve configured to control fuel flow from the fuel supply to the fuel cell stack;
- and
- a blower configured to provide air to the fuel cell stack,
- wherein, during a shutdown mode:
- the blower is configured to cool the fuel cell stack at a rate ranging from about 0.75° C./min to about 3.0° C./min;
- and
- the fuel valve is configured to prevent fuel flow from the fuel supply to the fuel cell stack, such that an anode reducing environment is not maintained during the shutdown mode.
A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, comprising:
- a hotbox comprising a fuel cell stack;
- a fuel supply configured to provide a fuel to the fuel cell stack;
- a blower configured to provide air to the fuel cell stack;
- a fuel valve configured to control fuel flow from the fuel supply to the fuel cell stack;
- and
- a controller configured to control the blower,
- wherein, during a shutdown mode, the controller is configured to:
- control the blower, such that the blower provides air to the fuel cell stack, until the temperature of the fuel cell stack is reduced to a temperature at which oxidation of anodes of the fuel cell stack is substantially prevented;
- and
- control the fuel valve to prevent fuel flow from the fuel supply to the fuel cell stack, such that an anode reducing environment is not maintained during the shutdown mode.
A method of operating a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system comprising a fuel cell stack, the method comprising:
- operating the SOFC system in a steady-state mode;
- and
- operating the SOFC system in a shutdown mode comprising:
- stopping fuel flow to the fuel cell stack such that an anode reducing environment is not maintained during the shutdown mode;
- and
- actively cooling the fuel cell stack until the temperature of the fuel cell stack is decreased to a temperature at which oxidation of anodes of the fuel cell stack is substantially prevented.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.