Fuel cell system and control method for fuel cell system
AssigneeToyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorHaruka HIROSE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fuel cell system includes a control unit configured to control for switching a secondary battery step-up converter between a step-up operation mode and a step-up stop mode. The control unit is configured to obtain a correlation value that correlates with a dischargeable electric power of a secondary battery, prohibit the step-up stop mode when a required voltage of a load is lower than an output voltage of the secondary battery and the correlation value falls within a prohibition range in which the step-up stop mode is prohibited, and execute the step-up stop mode when the required voltage is lower than the output voltage of the secondary battery and the correlation value falls outside the prohibition range.
Claims9
A fuel cell system comprising:
- a fuel cell configured to supply an electric power to a load;
- a secondary battery configured to supply an electric power to the load;
- a fuel cell step-up converter connected between the fuel cell and the load, the fuel cell step-up converter being configured to step up an output voltage of the fuel cell, the fuel cell step-up converter being configured to adjust an output electric power of the fuel cell;
- a secondary battery step-up converter connected between the secondary battery and the load, an output terminal of the secondary battery step-up converter and an output terminal of the fuel cell step-up converter being electrically connected to each other, the secondary battery step-up converter being configured to step up an output voltage of the secondary battery;
- and
- a control unit configured to execute control for adjusting the output electric power of the fuel cell with the fuel cell step-up converter and control for switching the secondary battery step-up converter between a step-up operation mode and a step-up stop mode, the control unit being configured to obtain a correlation value that correlates with a dischargeable electric power of the secondary battery, the control unit being configured to, when a required voltage of the load is lower than the output voltage of the secondary battery and the correlation value falls within a predetermined prohibition range in which the step-up stop mode is prohibited, prohibit the step-up stop mode of the secondary battery step-up converter, the control unit being configured to, when the required voltage is lower than the output voltage of the secondary battery and the correlation value falls outside the predetermined prohibition range, execute the step-up stop mode.
A control method for a fuel cell system, comprising:
- obtaining a correlation value that correlates with a dischargeable electric power of a secondary battery;
- when a required voltage of a load, to which an electric power is supplied from the secondary battery and a fuel cell, is lower than an output voltage of the secondary battery and the correlation value falls within a predetermined prohibition range in which a step-up stop mode of a secondary battery step-up converter is prohibited, prohibiting the step-up stop mode, the secondary battery step-up converter being connected between the secondary battery and the load, an output terminal of the secondary battery step-up converter and an output terminal of a fuel cell step-up converter being electrically connected to each other, the secondary battery step-up converter being configured to step up the output voltage of the secondary battery, the fuel cell step-up converter being connected between the fuel cell and the load, the fuel cell step-up converter being configured to step up an output voltage of the fuel cell, the fuel cell step-up converter being configured to adjust an output electric power of the fuel cell;
- and
- when the required voltage is lower than the output voltage of the secondary battery and the correlation value falls outside the predetermined prohibition range, executing the step-up stop mode of the secondary battery step-up converter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.