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US 2026/0155407 A1Published application
Hybrid cooling system for fuel cell
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsHassan Farhat, William F. Sanderson, JR.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hybrid cooling system for a fuel cell vehicle utilizes evaporative cooling to supplement a radiator. Liquid water produced by the fuel cell is utilized by the evaporative cooling system. A vacuum pump lowers a pressure in a chiller to increase the rate of evaporation of the liquid water. A control system manages capture of liquid water during periods of low fuel cell power demand for use during periods of high fuel cell power demand.
Claims19
A fuel cell cooling system, comprising:
- a fuel cell configured to generate electricity and produce water, the fuel cell having a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet;
- a water storage tank configured to store liquid water produced by the fuel cell;
- a chiller configured to receive liquid water from the water storage tank and to remove heat from a coolant via evaporation of the liquid water;
- a coolant pump configured to circulate the coolant from the coolant outlet, through the chiller, to the coolant inlet;
- and
- a vacuum pump configured to reduce a pressure in the chiller to facilitate the evaporation of the liquid water.
3 more elements
A method of controlling a fuel cell cooling system comprising:
- routing coolant from a coolant outlet of a fuel cell, through a chiller, to a coolant inlet of the fuel cell;
- and
- in response to a coolant temperature exceeding a first threshold, releasing liquid water from a water storage tank into the chiller and using a vacuum pump to reduce a pressure in the chiller to evaporate the liquid water to remove heat from the coolant.
A vehicle comprising:
- a fuel cell configured to generate electricity and produce water, the fuel cell having a coolant inlet and a coolant outlet;
- a coolant pump configured to circulate a coolant from the coolant outlet, through a chiller, to the coolant inlet;
- a water storage tank configured to store liquid water produced by the fuel cell;
- and
- a controller programmed to, in response to a first temperature of the coolant exceeding a first threshold, release liquid water from the water storage tank into the chiller and command a vacuum pump to reduce a pressure in the chiller to evaporate the liquid water to remove heat from the coolant.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.