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US 12,614,742 B2Granted
Purge systems and methods in a fuel cell system
AssigneesCummins Inc., Hydrogenics Corporation
InventorsEero Teene, Paolo Forte, Sumit Tripathi, Richard J. Ancimer, Prabhsimran Malhi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for purging water or gas from a fuel cell system. The fuel cell system may include a multi-phase valve system and/or a separate valve system. The opening and closing of the valve systems for removing gas and water is controlled by a controller.
Claims18
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell stack comprising an endplate,
- an exhaust valve system configured to be connected to the endplate of the fuel cell stack for removing water and gas from an anode exhaust,
- wherein the exhaust valve system comprises a multi-phase valve system or a separate valve system, and
- a controller configured to be connected to the exhaust valve system for regulating operation of the exhaust valve system,
- wherein operation of the exhaust valve system by the controller comprises opening the multi-phase valve system or the separate valve system to remove water before removing gas from the anode exhaust,
- wherein the exhaust valve system comprises the multi-phase valve system for removing water and gas at a first end of the fuel cell stack, and the separate valve system at a second end of the fuel cell stack, wherein the separate valve system includes a first valve for removing water and a second valve for removing gas.
3 more elements
A method of operating a fuel cell system comprising:
- removing water and gas from an anode exhaust using an exhaust valve system comprising a multi-phase valve system for removing water and gas at a first end of a fuel cell stack, and a separate valve system at a second end of the fuel cell stack, wherein the separate valve system includes a first valve for removing the water and a second valve for removing the gas,
- monitoring performance of the fuel cell stack comprising an anode inlet, an anode outlet, a cathode inlet, and a cathode outlet, and
- controlling the exhaust valve system using a controller based on operating conditions of the fuel cell stack including one or more lookup maps.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.