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US 2006/0134499 A1Published application
Fuel cell system
AssigneeHonda Motor Co., Ltd.
InventorHiroki Homma
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, a fluid unit, and a load applying mechanism. The fluid unit includes a heat exchanger and a reformer provided on one side of the fuel cell stack, and the load applying mechanism is provided on the other side of the fuel cell stack. The load applying mechanism includes first and second tightening units for applying different loads to desired regions of the fuel cell stack in the stacking direction.
Claims9
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell stack formed by stacking a plurality of fuel cells in a stacking direction, said fuel cells each including an electrolyte electrode assembly and separators sandwiching said electrolyte electrode assembly, said electrolyte electrode assembly including an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte interposed between said anode and said cathode;
- a heat exchanger provided on one side of said fuel cell stack for heating an oxygen-containing gas to be supplied to said fuel cell stack;
- a reformer provided on said one side of said fuel cell stack for reforming a fuel to produce a fuel gas;
- a load applying mechanism provided on the other side of said fuel cell stack for applying a tightening load to said fuel cell stack in the stacking direction;
- a casing containing said fuel cell stack, said heat exchanger, said reformer, and said load applying mechanism,
- wherein said load applying mechanism includes a first tightening unit for applying a load to a predetermined seal region of said fuel cell stack in the stacking direction and a second tightening unit for applying a load to said electrolyte electrode assembly in the stacking direction, and the load applied by said second tightening unit is smaller than the load applied by said first tightening unit.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.