Air-cooled fuel cell system and method for operating same

A method comprising:

• providing an air-cooled fuel cell system comprising:
• at least one fuel cell stack comprising a gaseous heat carrier distribution system, an anode gas distribution system, and a cathode gas distribution system;
• a burner;
• an expander, a motor, and a compressor, wherein the compressor is driven by the expander and the motor;
• a gaseous heat carrier recirculation system connected to the gaseous heat carrier distribution system, and
• one or more valves configured to separate one or more gases;
• feeding a gaseous fuel stream to the anode gas distribution system;
• withdrawing, from the at least one fuel cell stack, anode gases effluent from the anode gas distribution system, cathode gases effluent from the cathode gas distribution system, and distribution gases effluent from the gaseous heat carrier distribution system;
• feeding the anode gases and the cathode gases to the burner;
• withdrawing, from the burner, a stream of output burner gases;
• feeding the stream of output burner gases to the expander;
• withdrawing, from the expander, a stream of expander gases;
• separating, using the one or more valves, the expander gases into a first stream of expander gases and a second stream of expander gases, and
• separating, using the one or more valves, the distribution gases into a first stream of distribution gases and a second stream of distribution gases.

A method comprising:

• providing an air-cooled fuel cell system comprising:
• at least one fuel cell stack comprising a gaseous heat carrier distribution system, an anode gas distribution system, and a cathode gas distribution system;
• a burner;
• an expander, a motor, and a compressor, wherein the compressor is driven by the expander and the motor;
• an additional expander, an additional motor, and an additional compressor, wherein the additional compressor is driven by the additional expander and the additional motor, and
• one or more valves configured to separate one or more gases;
• feeding a gaseous fuel stream to the anode gas distribution system;
• withdrawing, from the at least one fuel cell stack, anode gases effluent from the anode gas distribution system, cathode gases effluent from the cathode gas distribution system, and distribution gases effluent from the gaseous heat carrier distribution system;
• feeding the anode gases and the cathode gases to the burner;
• withdrawing, from the burner, a stream of output burner gases;
• feeding the stream of output burner gases to the expander;
• withdrawing, from the expander, a stream of expander gases, and
• separating, using the one or more valves, the expander gases into a first stream of expander gases and a second stream of expander gases.