Fuel cell system

A fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell having a cell laminate formed by laminating a plurality of single cells, each of the single cells having an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and an electrolyte membrane existing between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, and a reactant gas flow channel, the fuel cell system comprising:

• an estimating unit for estimating a residual water content distribution in the reactant gas flow channel and a moisture content distribution in the electrolyte membrane in a cell plane of each single cell while taking into consideration water transfer that occurs between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode via the electrolyte membrane;
• and
• an operation control unit for, based on an estimation result from the estimating unit, setting a scavenging time used in a scavenging process for the fuel cell after the fuel cell system is shut down.