Warm-up apparatus for fuel cell for vehicle

A warm-up apparatus for a fuel cell for a vehicle in which a fuel cell and a secondary battery are mounted as power sources of a motor for travelling, and which, when charging of the secondary battery is required, stops operation of the fuel cell and charges the secondary battery with electric power from an external power source by means of a battery charger, comprising:

• a secondary battery cooling circuit that cools the secondary battery;
• a fuel cell cooling circuit that cools the fuel cell;
• a connection passage that connects the secondary battery cooling circuit and the fuel cell cooling circuit through a switching valve;
• a pump that circulates a coolant between the secondary battery cooling circuit and the fuel cell cooling circuit through the connection passage;
• and
• a warm-up control unit that, when a temperature of the secondary battery rises accompanying charging of the secondary battery and becomes equal to or higher than a temperature of the fuel cell, controls the switching valve so that the secondary battery cooling circuit and the fuel cell cooling circuit communicate through the connection passage and also starts operation of the pump.

A warm-up apparatus for a fuel cell for a vehicle in which a fuel cell and a secondary battery are mounted as power sources of a motor for travelling, and which, when charging of the secondary battery is required, stops operation of the fuel cell and charges the secondary battery with electric power from an external power source by means of a battery charger, comprising:

• a secondary battery cooling circuit that cools the secondary battery;
• a fuel cell cooling circuit that cools the fuel cell;
• a connection passage that connects the secondary battery cooling circuit and the fuel cell cooling circuit through a switching valve;
• a radiator that is provided as an accessory in the secondary battery cooling circuit;
• and
• a warm-up control unit that, when a temperature of the secondary battery rises accompanying charging of the secondary battery and becomes equal to or higher than a temperature of the fuel cell, controls the switching valve so that the secondary battery cooling circuit and the fuel cell cooling circuit communicate through the connection passage, and when a temperature of the fuel cell is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature, circulates the coolant in the secondary battery cooling circuit to the radiator, and when the temperature of the fuel cell is less than a predetermined temperature, causes the coolant in the secondary battery cooling circuit to bypass the radiator.