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US 2006/0040146 A1Published application
Liquid circulation type fuel cell and control method therefor
AssigneeFujitsu Limited
InventorAtsushi Yamaguchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A liquid circulation type fuel cell generates electric power by circulating diluted liquid fuel to a fuel cell. In a dilution fuel cell system of circulation type, a decompression mechanism for reducing the pressure in a dilution fuel tank for circulating the diluted fuel for the fuel cell is provided. Thereby gas in the dilution fuel tank is removed. With this, the operational failure of the circulation pump caused by the gas in the diluted fuel can be avoided, enabling stable operation of the fuel cell system.
Claims19
A liquid circulation type fuel cell comprising:
- a fuel cell for generating electric power using liquid fuel;
- a dilution fuel tank for retaining diluted fuel having the liquid fuel mixed with water;
- a dilution fuel circulation path at least having a circulation pump for circulating the diluted fuel to the fuel cell;
- a water supply tank for supplying water to the dilution fuel tank;
- a fuel supply tank for supplying the liquid fuel to the dilution fuel tank;
- and
- a decompression mechanism for reducing the pressure in the dilution fuel tank to remove gas.
4 more elements
A control method for a liquid circulation type fuel cell comprising:
- a step of circulating diluted fuel from a dilution fuel tank for retaining the diluted fuel having the liquid fuel mixed with water, to a fuel cell for generating power using liquid fuel, via a dilution fuel circulation path at least having a circulation pump;
- a water and fuel supply step of supplying the water or the liquid fuel to the dilution fuel tank either from a water tank for retaining the water or a fuel tank for retaining the liquid fuel;
- and
- a decompression step of reducing the pressure in the dilution fuel tank by means of a decompression mechanism for removing gas.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.