Loading patent…
OwnerPeter Bach, Craig Louie +1inventors
InventorsPeter Bach, Craig Louie, Caroline Andrewes
Estimating the term…
A fuel cell subject to intermittent use may be operated in two distinct modes, a “summer” or a “winter” mode, depending on whether the cell is expected to be stored at below freezing temperatures or not. At steady state in summer mode, much of the cell interior may be fully saturated with water and thus may contain liquid water. While such conditions may be most desirable for performance reasons during operation, the presence of liquid water however may be detrimental when storing at below freezing temperatures. At steady state in winter mode, the cell interior is essentially sub-saturated throughout and liquid water is not present to form ice during storage. Winter mode operation allows for improved performance during startup, especially in automotive solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell stacks.
A method of operating a fuel cell in an environment whose temperature may vary above and below the freezing point of water over time, the fuel cell comprising an oxidant reactant flow field channel having an inlet and an outlet and an oxidant channel length defined by the span from the oxidant channel inlet to the channel outlet, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.