Apparatus and method for high efficiency operation of fuel cell systems
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsRobert Dean King, Timothy Gerard Richter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A drive circuit comprising a DC bus configured to supply power to a load, a first fuel cell coupled to the DC bus and configured to provide a first power output to the DC bus, and a second fuel cell coupled to the DC bus and configured to provide a second power output to the DC bus supplemental to the first fuel cell. The drive circuit further includes an energy storage device coupled to the DC bus and configured to receive energy from the DC bus when a combined output of the first and second fuel cells is greater than a power demand from a load, and provide energy to the DC bus when the combined output of the first and second fuel cells is less than the power demand from the load.
Claims19
A fuel cell system for a vehicle comprising:
- a traction motor;
- a voltage converter assembly coupled to the traction motor, the voltage converter assembly comprising a plurality of boost converters and a buck/boost converter;
- a fuel cell assembly coupled to the plurality of boost converters;
- an energy storage device coupled to the buck/boost converter;
- an interface coupleable to the energy storage device, the interface configured to allow for charging the energy storage device from an external charging source;
- and
- a control system configured to selectively:
- operate the plurality of boost converters to deliver a first power output to the traction motor;
- operate the plurality of boost converters to deliver a second power output to the traction motor;
- and
- operate the buck/boost converter to deliver a third power output to the traction motor.
A fuel cell vehicle comprising:
- an AC traction motor;
- an inverter coupled to the AC traction motor;
- a plurality of boost converters coupled to the inverter;
- a buck/boost converter coupled to the inverter;
- a fuel cell assembly coupled to the plurality of boost converters;
- an energy storage device coupled to the buck/boost converter;
- and
- a control system configured to selectively:
- operate the plurality of boost converters to deliver a first power output to the inverter;
- operate the plurality of boost converters to deliver a second power output to the inverter;
- operate the buck/boost converter to deliver a third power output to the inverter;
- and
- operate the buck/boost converter to deliver a fourth power output to the energy storage device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.