Swelling reduction system

Abstract

A swelling reduction system configured to reduce swelling of an ionomer in a fuel cell, includes a pressure sensor, a swelling reduction device, and a control device. The pressure sensor is configured to detect a pressure of gases introduced into the fuel cell and a pressure discharged from the fuel cell. The swelling reduction device is configured to reduce the swelling of the ionomer. The control device includes a processor and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The processor of the control device is configured to: determine whether the swelling has occurred, based on a pressure difference between the pressure of the introduced gas and the pressure of the discharged gas; and, upon determining that the swelling has occurred, control driving of the swelling reduction device so as to reduce the swelling.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.