System for regenerating a fuel cell and regeneration method
AssigneeCommissariat A L'energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives
InventorsFabrice Micoud, Arnaud Morin, Jean-Philippe Poirot-Crouvezier, Florent Vandenberghe
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Abstract
A fuel cell and a method for regenerating this fuel cell, including a supply of the fuel cell by the main supply conduit by a fluid having a nominal flow rate and a nominal molar fraction of combustion agent, during a regeneration phase of a given group, a switching of the inlet, outlet and recirculation switches of the fluid circuit so as to supply the given group from the recirculation line of the given group and from a fluid discharge line of at least one other group, an application of a regeneration voltage Ve to the cells of the given group, Ve being less than or equal to 0.3V.
Claims20
A fuel cell, comprising:
- a first group of electrochemical cells and a second coup of electrochemical cells, each having an inlet and an outlet capable of receiving a fluid, and
- a fluid circuit configured to guide the fluid and composing, for each group of electrochemical cells:
- (i) a fluid supply line connected to the inlet of a respective group of electrochemical cells, the fluid supply line comprising an inlet switch configured to enable or block a flow of the fluid,
- (ii) a fluid discharge line connected to the outlet of the respective group of electrochemical cells,
- (iii) a recirculation line configured to fluidically connect the inlet and the outlet of the respective group of electrochemical cells, the recirculation line comprising a recirculation switch configured to enable or block the flow of the fluid,
- wherein each fluid supply line (i) is connected to a main supply conduit common to the groups and each fluid discharge line (ii) is connected to a main discharge conduit common to the groups, the main discharge conduit comprising an outlet switch configured to enable or block the flow of the fluid,
- wherein the inlet, outlet, and recirculation switches of the fluid circuit are configured to enable, during a regeneration phase of the respective group of electrochemical cells, a supply of the respective group of electrochemical cells from a recirculation line (iii) of the respective group of electrochemical cells and from a fluid discharge line (ii) of at least one other group of electrochemical cells,
- wherein the fuel cell is configured such that the fluid has a first flow direction in the respective group of electrochemical cells dining the regeneration phase of the respective group of electrochemical cells, and
- wherein the fuel cell is configured such that the fluid has a second flow direction in the respective group of electrochemical cells during a nominal production phase of the respective group of electrochemical cells,
- wherein the first flow direction is opposite the second flow direction, and
- wherein the nominal production phase is separate from the regeneration phase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.