| Entries |
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| 20100136440 | FUEL CELL APPARATUS AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The present invention reduces deterioration in the output of a fuel cell caused by a high moisture concentration at an oxidant electrode. A control apparatus for a fuel cell comprising an electrolyte membrane, an oxidant electrode provided on one side of the electrolyte membrane, and a fuel electrode provided on the other side of the electrolyte membrane, in which electric power is generated from an oxidant gas supplied to the oxidant electrode and a fuel gas supplied to the fuel electrode, wherein when the current-voltage characteristics of the fuel cell fall below a predetermined reference level, and the electrolyte membrane has not dried beyond a predetermined reference level, the control apparatus executes a control operation that increases the gas pressure at the oxidant electrode. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100151337 | HUMIDIFIER AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - This specification discloses a humidifier that attains the inhibition of the damaging of a steam permeable membrane at low temperatures, and a fuel cell system. The humidifier has a steam permeable membrane therein. In the humidifier, an oxidizing gas and an oxidizing off gas with a humidity higher than that of the oxidizing gas are introduced, and the oxidizing gas is humidified by the oxidizing off gas via the steam permeable membrane. The steam permeable membrane is located at a position lower than an inlet for the oxidizing gas but higher than an outlet therefor. Further, the steam permeable membrane is located at a position lower than an inlet for the oxidizing off gas but higher than an outlet therefor. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100190068 | FUEL CELL STACK - An end plate of a fuel cell stack is directly fixed to a humidifier. A resin pipe is attached to an oxygen-containing gas outlet of an end plate through a resin coupling pipe. The resin pipe includes one end having a large diameter and the other end having a small diameter. The other end is provided at an off gas supply channel of the humidifier. The off gas supply channel includes an inclined channel. The other end extends up to an end of the inclined channel where inclination of the inclined channel is started. An off gas ejection port is formed at the other end. The off gas ejection port is opened to the end of the inclined channel where inclination is started. Condensed water returned along the inclined channel flows from the off gas ejection port into the resin pipe. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100203400 | HUMIDIFIER MEMBRANE - A passive humidifier membrane includes polyolefin with a plurality of pores, wherein the average pore size of the plurality of pores is 0.05 μm to 0.4 μm as established by a PMI Capillary Flow Porometer. The humidifier membrane is virtually airtight while providing a high transfer rate of water. Transfer of heat is also high. The humidifier membrane is particularly suitable for heat exchange and water transfer between fluids and, it is particularly useful for applications inside or outside fuel cells such as PEMFC. The membrane is also particularly useful in the application as humidifier for air or oxygen. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100203401 | HUMIDIFICATION SYSTEM USING INJECTOR FOR FUEL CELL STACK - A humidification system using an injector for a fuel cell stack includes: a fuel cell separator including a reaction flow field, and an air inlet port and an air outlet port formed at a front portion and an end portion of the reaction flow field, respectively; a humidification chamber provided at a part of or the whole length of the front portion of the reaction flow field of the separator; and an injector mounted at a starting point of the humidification chamber to inject a mixture of water and air into the humidification chamber. With the system, humidification efficiency can be improved and/or maximized without an increase in the volume of the fuel cell stack. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100216039 | FUEL HUMIDIFIER ASSEMBLY FOR USE IN HIGH TEMPERATURE FUEL CELL SYSTEMS - A humidifier assembly for humidifying fuel for use in a fuel cell system, comprising a water heater adapted to receive recycled water and to generate heated water using cathode exhaust, and a fuel saturator adapted to receive deaerated cleansed water, at least a portion of the deaerated cleansed water comprising the heated water, and fuel and to humidify the fuel with a first portion of the deaerated cleansed water, the fuel saturator tower outputting humidified fuel for use in the fuel cell system and a second portion of the deaerated cleansed water for use as recycled water in the water heater. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100216040 | HUMIDIFIER AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM USING THE SAME - A humidifier ( | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100239922 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF DRIVING THE SAME - A fuel cell system and a method for driving the fuel cell system are disclosed. In one aspect, the fuel cell system may include a fuel stack, a fuel supply unit, an oxidizer supply unit, a humidifying unit, and a controller configured to measure the temperature of unit cells within the fuel cell stack and configured to detect the lowest measured temperature. The fuel cell stack may include a membrane electrode assembly and a plurality of unit cells. The membrane electrode assembly may include a membrane, a cathode disposed at a first side of the membrane and an anode disposed at a second side of the membrane. In another aspect, a method of driving a fuel cell system may include sequentially supplying a humidified fuel and an oxidizer to a fuel cell stack, measuring the temperature of each of a plurality of unit cells in the fuel cell stack, detecting to detect a unit cell having the lowest temperature among the measured temperature of each of the plurality of unit cells and decreasing humidification temperature of the fuel to be lower than the lowest temperature. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100248044 | ON BOARD GENERATION OF N2 FOR FUEL CELLS USING A MEMBRANE - A PEMFC is operated in an operation mode in which a membrane-based humidifier is used to transfer moisture from a moisture-laden exhaust stream to the dry air feed and in a shutdown mode in which the membrane-based humidifier is used to permeate moisture and oxygen from the moisture-laden exhaust stream to provide a N | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100248045 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME - A fuel cell system of the present invention includes: a fuel cell ( | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100248046 | METHOD OF CREATING PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION MODEL, METHOD OF PREDICTING DEGRADATION OF FUEL CELL CATALYST USING THE METHOD OF CREATING PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION MODEL, AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING FUEL CELL USING THE METHOD OF PREDICTING DEGRADATION OF FUEL CELL CATALYST - A particle size distribution creating method includes a particle size range determining step, an integrating step of integrating the frequency of appearance of particles within the particle size range determined in the particle size range determining step, a division point determining step of determining particle sizes that provide division points, using the integral of the frequency of appearance obtained in the integrating step, and a typical point determining step of determining the minimum particle size, maximum particle size and the particle sizes of the division points as typical points. This method is characterized by assuming a particle size distribution which contains particles having the particle sizes of the respective typical points and is plotted such that the frequency of appearance of the particles having the particle size of each of the typical points is equal to the integral over each of the regions defined by the typical points, and obtaining the assumed particle size distribution as a particle size distribution model. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100255388 | Fuel Cell System and Method of Operating a Fuel Cell System - In a fuel cell system a specific connection and a valve arrangement make it possible for a compressor to supply precompressed air to a fuel cell stack via a waste gas line, said air then leaving the fuel cell stack via a line which is otherwise an air feed line. In this way, a humidifier may be bypassed. This is sensible in particular during a start phase at low ambient temperatures, during which the fuel cell system is intended to warm up without moisture in the fuel cell stack having a negative effect, for instance by freezing. The compressor may be operated both in the start phase or stop phase and during conventional operation by the same mode of operation. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100255389 | FUEL CELL - A fuel cell includes a membrane electrode assembly includes a fuel electrode, an air electrode and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the fuel electrode and the air electrode, a fuel supply mechanism disposed on the air electrode side of the membrane electrode assembly to supply fuel to the fuel electrode, and a humidification layer disposed on the air electrode side of the membrane electrode assembly to be impregnated with water produced in the air electrode. The humidification layer include a first humidification section disposed opposite to a high-temperature area of an air electrode and a second humidification section disposed opposite to a low-temperature area of the air electrode when generating electricity. The second humidification section is so configured that water vapor is released into air therefrom more easily than from the first humidification section in the membrane electrode assembly. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100255390 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM OPERATION METHOD - A method of operating fuel cell system includes generating electricity by a fuel cell using fuel gas and oxidizing gas and allowing cooling water to flow in the fuel cell and thereby cooling the fuel cell. The method includes transferring moisture from exhaust gas to supply gas using a first humidifier, the exhaust gas being discharged from the fuel cell, the supply gas being supplied to the fuel cell, and transferring moisture from the cooling water to the supply gas humidified using a second humidifier. The method includes at least one of detecting humidity of the supply gas humidified, detecting temperature of the cooking water, detecting the flow rate of the supply gas and detecting the amount of electricity generated by the fuel cell. The method also includes controlling the humidity of the supply gas humidified based on the value detected. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100261073 | Solid oxide fuel cell - A solid oxide fuel cell includes a core with an anode inlet, an anode outlet, a cathode inlet and a cathode outlet. A first heater is connected to the anode inlet of the core. A second heater is connected to the cathode inlet of the core. A reformer is connected to the first heater. A heat exchanger is connected to the second heater. A burner is connected to the reformer and the anode and cathode outlets of the core. A humidifier is connected to the reformer. A first gas supply is connected to the humidifier. A second gas supply is connected to the reformer. A third gas supply is connected to the burner. A fourth gas supply is connected to the heat exchanger. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100304233 | FUEL CELL ASSEMBLY - A fuel cell assembly for using hydrogen gas and oxygen to produce electrical energy. The cathode of the fuel cell produces water vapor to define a flow of moist air including water vapor. A dehumidifier receives the flow of moist air including water vapor to produce purified liquid water and a flow of dehumidified air. The dehumidifier has an air inlet having a first cross-sectional area and an air outlet having a larger second cross-sectional area. The diffuser cavity of the dehumidifier progressively increases in size from the air inlet to the air outlet for depressurizing and cooling the flow of moist air including water vapor below the dew point of the moist air including water vapor to condense the water vapor on the housing of the dehumidifier. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100304234 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AMOUNT OF AIR SUPPLIED TO FUEL CELL - The present invention provides a method for controlling the amount of air supplied to a fuel cell, which can prevent flooding and membrane dry-out in a fuel cell stack and, at the same time, ensure optimal performance of the fuel cell stack and a humidifier by supplying an optimal amount of air to the fuel cell stack at each operation condition. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100316916 | POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A polymer electrolyte fuel cell system of the present invention comprises cells | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100323251 | HUMIDIFICATION CELL - A humidification cell of a fuel cell apparatus includes a first outer plate and a second outer plate. A gas chamber, a humidification chamber and a water-permeable membrane separating the two chambers, are disposed between the first outer plate and the second outer plate, starting from the first outer plate. A first water-permeable support element that prevents fibers from detaching and also prevents medium flows from blocking narrow gas outlets, is disposed between the first outer plate and the membrane in such a way that the first support element is made of a filter material. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100330440 | METHOD OF OPERATING FUEL CELL WITH HIGH POWER AND HIGH POWER FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell is operated with high power such that which a humidified gas and a dry gas are selectively supplied as oxidant to a cathode of the fuel cell. This method includes (S1) supplying a humidified gas while a power is constantly maintained or until the power begins to decrease; (S2) after supplying the humidified gas, supplying a dry gas to obtain a greater power than an average power of the step (S1); and (S3) after obtaining a predetermined power in the step (S2), repeatedly supplying a humidified gas in case the power decreases and supplying a dry gas in case the power decreases again afterwards, thereby increasing the power such that the predetermined power is maintained. This method provides an optimal operating condition to a fuel cell, thereby ensuring a high power. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110003215 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - There is disclosed a fuel cell system capable of drying a fuel cell in a short time after a system stop instruction is issued. The fuel cell system includes a controller to control the execution of a normal operation and a dry operation which decreases the water content of the fuel cell as compared with the normal operation. The controller executes the dry operation prior to the system stop instruction so that the water content of the fuel cell is decreased as compared with the normal operation at a time of the system stop instruction. The controller may execute the dry operation before the system stop instruction in a case where it is predicted that the temperature of the fuel cell at the system stop or the next system start is a predetermined low temperature. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110003216 | FUEL CELL AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The fuel cell according to the present invention includes a membrane electrode assembly, two diffusion layers, an oxygen supplying layer, a water-absorbing layer, and a current collector. An end portion of the water-absorbing layer is located on a plane including an opening portion or on the fuel cell-side with respect to the plane. A length from one end portion to the other end portion of a part of the oxygen supplying layer which contacts the water-absorbing layer in a cross section of the fuel cell taken along a surface which includes the water-absorbing layer and which is perpendicular to the plane is shorter than a length from one end portion to the other end portion of the water-absorbing layer including a part of the water-absorbing layer which contacts the oxygen supplying layer in the cross section. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110008689 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HUMIDIFYING A MASTER FUEL CELL STACK WITH A SLAVE FUEL CELL STACK - A system and method for humidifying a fuel cell stack system is provided. The system includes a slave stack, a master stack and at least one valve. The slave stack generates power to drive a load in response to at least one fluid stream and discharges at least one recirculated fluid stream having water content therein. The master stack receives the at least recirculated fluid stream to humidify the master stack with the water content. The valve delivers the at least one recirculated fluid stream from the slave stack to the master stack based on a power request amount by the load. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110027668 | HYDROGEN GENERATION FROM CHEMICAL HYDRIDES - A fuel source for a hydrogen generator is described. The fuel source includes a chemical hydride, at least one catalyst precursor and a hygroscopic salt. When one or more of the at least one catalyst precursor and hygroscopic salt contact water, a catalyst is formed for facilitating the generation of hydrogen from the chemical hydride. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110027669 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR HYDRATING A PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL - A fuel cell hydration system comprising a first reservoir is provided. The first reservoir is positioned between a cathode supply and a fuel cell stack. The first reservoir includes corrugated regions positioned axially along the first reservoir to accumulate water discharged from a first fluid stream. The first fluid stream absorbs the accumulated water when an amount of water within the first fluid stream is below a water level to hydrate the fuel cell stack. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110039167 | MEMBRANE HUMIDIFIER FOR A FUEL CELL - A membrane humidifier for a fuel cell with a wet side plate having a plurality of flow channels formed therein and a dry side plate having a plurality of flow channels formed therein, the flow channels of the wet side plate adapted to facilitate a flow of a wet gas therethrough and the flow channels of said dry side plate adapted to facilitate a flow of a dry gas therethrough, wherein a pressure drop in the humidifier is minimized and a humidification of a proton exchange membrane in the fuel cell is optimized. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110039168 | RAPID LIGHT-OFF CATALYTIC COMBUSTOR FOR FUEL CELL VEHICLE - A catalytic combustion unit for a fuel cell system is provided. The catalytic combustion unit includes a reactor having a porous medium with a catalyst deposited thereon. The reactor is disposed adjacent a heat exchanger and adapted to receive an air stream and a hydrogen stream. The reactor is further adapted to promote an exothermic reaction and modulate a temperature of a fuel cell stack. A fuel cell system and method employing the catalytic combustion unit are also provided. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110045365 | METHOD FOR REMOVING RESIDUAL WATER FROM FUEL CELL - The present invention provides a method for removing residual water in a fuel cell, which controls the humidity of purge gases to effectively remove residual water in the fuel cell and to maintain the humidity in a membrane at a constant level, thus ensuring the durability of the membrane. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110045366 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - Disclosed is a fuel cell system comprising a reformer and a fuel cell body to which a fuel gas reformed through the reformer and air are supplied and in which the supplied fuel gas and air are separated from each other and caused to flow and contact on respective electrodes to perform electric power generation. A moisture quantity adjustment device is configured to adjustably separate a portion of moisture included in the fuel gas supplied from the reformer in order for the moisture included in the fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel cell body in an appropriate quantity. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110045367 | Fuel Cell Supply System, Fuel Cell System and Method of Operating the Same - A fuel cell supply system | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110053007 | PERFLUOROCYCLOBUTANE BASED WATER VAPOR TRANSFER MEMBRANES - A membrane humidifier assembly includes a first flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a first gas thereto and a second flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a second gas thereto. A polymeric membrane is disposed between the first and second flow fields and adapted to permit transfer of water from the first flow field plate to the second flow field plate. The polymeric membrane includes a polymer having perfluorocyclobutyl groups. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053008 | WATER VAPOR TRANSFER MEMBRANE AND PAPER INTEGRATED ASSEMBLY - A membrane humidifier assembly includes a first flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a first gas thereto and a second flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a second gas thereto. A polymeric membrane is disposed between the first and second flow fields. The polymeric membrane is adapted to permit transfer of water between the first flow field plate and the second flow field plate. The polymeric membrane includes a polymeric substrate and a polymer layer disposed on the polymeric substrate. The polymer layer characteristically includes a first polymer having fluorinated cyclobutyl groups disposed on the polymeric substrate. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053009 | CUSTOMIZED WATER VAPOR TRANSFER MEMBRANE LAYERED STRUCTURE - A membrane humidifier assembly includes a first flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a first gas thereto and a second flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a second gas thereto. A polymeric membrane is disposed between the first and second flow fields. The polymeric membrane is adapted to permit transfer of water between the first flow field plate and the second flow field plate. The polymeric membrane includes a polymeric substrate and a polymer layer disposed on the polymeric substrate. The polymer layer characteristically includes a first polymer having fluorinated cyclobutyl groups disposed on the polymeric substrate. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053010 | PERFLUOROCYCLOBUTANE BASED WATER VAPOR TRANSFER MEMBRANES WITH SIDE CHAIN PERFLUOROSULFONIC ACID MOIETIES - A membrane humidifier assembly includes a first flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a first gas thereto and a second flow field plate adapted to facilitate flow of a second gas thereto. A polymeric membrane is disposed between the first and second flow fields and adapted to permit transfer of water from the first flow field plate to the second flow field plate. The polymeric membrane includes a polymer having perfluorocyclobutyl groups and a pendant side chain having a protogenic group. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053011 | PEM FUEL CELL STACK INLET WATER REGULATION SYSTEM - A fuel cell stack assembly is disclosed that includes a porous member disposed within a flow path for a reactant. A fluid collection member is provided within the flow path adjacent to and in fluid communication with the porous member. The porous member and the fluid collection member cooperate to collect liquid water from the reactant flowing in the flow path, wherein the collected liquid water may be drained from the fluid collection member. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053012 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM WITH IMPROVED HUMIDIFICATION PERFORMANCE - The present invention provides a fuel cell system, which reduces the temperature of exhaust gas discharged from a fuel cell stack to a humidifier to increase the humidity thereof when the fuel cell stack operates at high temperature and high power, and thus improves the humidification performance for air as an oxidant in the humidifier and improves the performance of the fuel cell stack. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053013 | Method for Operating a Fuel Cell System with a Recirculation Blower Arranged in a Fuel Circuit Thereof - In a method for operating a fuel cell system having recirculation blower arranged in a fuel cell circuit, fuel discharged from the anode exhaust is fed back to the inlet side of the fuel cell system via the recirculation blower. The direction of flow in the fuel return line is reversed in at least a portion of the return line, in an alternating manner. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110076573 | Solid Oxide Type Fuel Cell and Operating Method Thereof - It is possible to rapidly start a fuel cell and perform temperature increase operation and temperature decrease operation at start/stop without providing a separate purge gas supply system. The solid oxide type fuel cell includes a reformer ( | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110091779 | PEM FUEL CELL STACK INLET WATER REGULATION SYSTEM - A fuel cell assembly is provided that includes a fluid collection member disposed in a fluid inlet for a reactant, wherein the fluid collection member militates against liquid water on an inner surface of the fluid inlet from being received by a fuel cell of the fuel cell assembly. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110091780 | IN-SITU FUEL CELL STACK RECONDITIONING - A method for reconditioning a fuel cell stack. The method includes periodically increasing the relative humidity level of the cathode input airflow to the stack to saturate the cell membrane electrode assemblies to be greater than the relative humidity levels during normal stack operating conditions. The method also includes providing hydrogen to the anode side of the fuel cell stack at system shut down while the membrane electrode assemblies are saturated without stack loads being applied so that the hydrogen crosses the cell membranes to the cathode side and reacts with oxygen to reduce stack contaminants. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110091781 | AUTOMATED PROCEDURE FOR EXECUTING IN-SITU FUEL CELL STACK RECONDITIONING - A method for reconditioning a fuel cell stack. The method includes determining whether fuel cell stack reconditioning is desired based on predetermined reconditioning triggers, determining if predetermined system constraints are met that will allow reconditioning of the fuel cell stack to occur, and determining whether previous reconditioning processes have been attempted, and if so, whether predetermine reconditioning limits have been exceeded during those attempts. The reconditioning process is initiated if one or more of the reconditioning triggers has occurred, the predetermined system constraints are met and the predetermined reconditioning limits have not been exceeded. The reconditioning process increases the humidification level of a cathode side of the fuel cell stack over the humidity level of the cathode side during normal operating conditions and waiting for cell membranes in the fuel cell stack to saturate after the humidification level of the cathode has increased. | 04-21-2011 |
| 20110111311 | SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL - An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel cell which prevents an unreformed fuel gas from being supplied to a fuel electrode at start-up without requiring a storage chamber for hydrogen gas and the like. In order to achieve this object, the fuel cell includes: a fuel cell stack ( | 05-12-2011 |
| 20110129740 | MEMBRANE HUMIDIFIER FOR FUEL CELL - In preferred aspect, the present invention features a membrane humidifier for a fuel cell which can control the amount of air flow and the amount of humidification based on the amount of water produced in a fuel cell stack according to a power level of the fuel cell stack while humidifying dry air and supplying humidified air to the fuel cell stack. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110129741 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND FUEL CELL AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE - A fuel cell system that is compact and has stabilized performance is provided. The fuel cell system includes two fuel cell stacks or a first fuel cell stack ( | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110143231 | INTEGRATED PIPING MODULE IN FUEL CELL SYSTEM - An integrated piping module to connect a fuel cell and a fuel processor, the integrated piping module including: tanks to collect heat emitted from a reformate gas generated by the fuel processor, heat emitted from air discharged from the fuel cell, and water condensed from the reformate gas and/or the discharged air; pipes to heat and cool the reformate gas, and to remove the water from the tanks. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110165478 | Humidifier Device for Humidifying a Fluid in a Fuel Cell System - A humidifier device for humidifying a fluid in a fuel cell system of a motor vehicle is provided. The humidifier device has a housing, in which is arranged at least one membrane, and a bypass channel for bypassing the at least one membrane. The bypass channel has a non-circular cross-section. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110189554 | HUMIDIFICATION UNIT AND FUEL CARTRIDGE - A humidification unit and a fuel cartridge are provided, wherein the fuel cartridge is capable of supplying hydrogen gas to a fuel cell (FC) stack. The fuel cartridge includes a hydrogen supply unit and a humidification unit. The hydrogen supply unit is capable of generating the hydrogen gas. The humidification unit is connected with the hydrogen supply unit. The humidification unit includes a first chamber, a second chamber, a membrane, and at least one membrane destructor. The first chamber contains water, and the second chamber contains a water absorbing material. The membrane is disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber. The membrane destructor is connected to the membrane. The water in the first chamber flows into the second chamber and is absorbed by the water absorbing material when a hole is formed on the membrane by the membrane destructor. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110195324 | METHODS AND PROCESSES TO RECOVER VOLTAGE LOSS OF PEM FUEL CELL STACK - A system and method for recovering cell voltage loss in a PEM fuel cell stack that include operating the stack at conditions that provide excess water that flushes away contaminants deposited on the cell electrodes. Two techniques are described that both operate the stack at a relatively low temperature and a cathode inlet RH above saturation. The first technique also includes providing hydrogen to the anode side of the stack and air to the cathode side of the stack, and operating the stack at a relatively low cell voltage. The second technique also includes flowing hydrogen to the anode side of the stack and nitrogen to the cathode side of the stack, using an external power source to provide a stack current density, and providing an anode humidity level that is significantly higher than the cathode humidity level. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110195325 | HUMIDIFIER MODULE FOR A FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The present invention relates to a humidifier module ( | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110200895 | METHOD TO AUTOMATICALLY ENABLE/DISABLE STACK RECONDITIONING PROCEDURE BASED ON FUEL CELL STACK PARAMETER ESTIMATION - A system and method for determining when to trigger reconditioning of a fuel cell stack and when to disable the reconditioning of the fuel cell stack. In one embodiment, the stack reconditioning is triggered when a maximum stack power estimation falls below a first predetermined power threshold. The reconditioning of the stack can be disabled so it is not performed when the trigger occurs if the reconditioning process does not raise the maximum power estimation above a second predetermined power threshold or the time from one reconditioning trigger to a next reconditioning trigger is less than a predetermined time threshold, or both. | 08-18-2011 |
| 20110207004 | POROUS FLOW FIELD PLATE FOR MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION CONTROL IN A FUEL CELL - A flow field plate for use in a fuel cell includes a porous, wettable plate body including a first reactant gas channel having an inlet portion, a second reactant gas channel having an outlet portion that is adjacent the inlet portion of the first reactant gas channel, and at least one moisture reservoir fluidly connected with pores of the porous, wettable plate body. The at least one moisture reservoir can selectively collect and release moisture received from a reactant gas in the outlet portion to thereby selectively move the moisture from the outlet portion toward the adjacent inlet portion. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110217603 | SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL - To provide a solid oxide fuel cell in which the reformer is compact but is capable of supplying an appropriate quantity of fuel. The present invention is a solid oxide fuel cell ( | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110244342 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, a fuel supply supplying a fuel to the fuel cell stack, and an oxidizing agent supply supplying an oxidizing agent to the fuel cell stack. The fuel cell stack includes a first end plate, a moisture exchanger, an electrical generator, and a second end plate. The moisture exchanger includes a first area where a dried supply oxidizing agent flows, a second area where a humid emission fuel flows, and a third area where a humid emission oxidizing agent flows, and the first area exchanges moisture with the second and third areas using a moisture exchange layer. | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110269035 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND OPERATING METHOD THEREOF - The present invention includes a fuel cell ( | 11-03-2011 |
| 20110274992 | WATER CONTENT ESTIMATION APPARATUS FOR FUEL CELL AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The water content estimation apparatus for a fuel cell includes an estimating unit for estimating a residual water content distribution in a reactant gas flow channel and a moisture content distribution in an electrolyte membrane in a cell plane of a single cell while taking into consideration water transfer that occurs between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode via the electrolyte membrane between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The fuel cell system performs control based on an estimation result by the estimating unit so that the fuel cell assumes a predetermined water condition. | 11-10-2011 |
| 20110294024 | Device for Providing a Carrier Gas Containing a Fuel, and Fuel Cell Comprising Such a Device - The present invention relates to a humidification unit for providing a carrier gas containing a fuel for supplying a fuel cell. This comprises a humidification chamber, which is designed for the storage of a liquid containing fuel, an inlet leading into the humidification chamber feed a liquid containing fuel, a further inlet leading into the humidification chamber to feed a carrier gas, in such a way that the carrier gas in the humidification chamber is in contact with the liquid, an outlet for the release of the carrier gas containing gaseous fuel, wherein a control unit is provided to keep the liquid containing fuel in the humidification chamber at a temperature below its boiling point. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110300458 | FUEL CELL ASSEMBLY AND METHOD FOR OPERATING A FUEL CELL ASSEMBLY - A fuel cell assembly includes a fuel cell configuration having a solid electrolyte-based fuel cell with terminal contacts tapping an electrical voltage from the fuel cell configuration between which the fuel cell is disposed. An assembly has an electrically conductive component and another component disposed between a first terminal contact and the electrically conductive component on the side of the first terminal contact away from the fuel cell and has a lower electrical conductivity than that thereof. A supply duct transports a fluid medium connecting the first terminal contact to the electrically conductive component through the other component. The electrically conductive component is connected to the first terminal contact and/or a voltage supply adjusting an electrical potential on the electrically conductive component to an electrical potential on the first terminal contact. There is a maximum potential difference of 3 volts between the electrically conductive component and the first terminal contact. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110305960 | FUEL CELL STACK - A fuel cell stack configured to alleviate pressure and decrease the flow rate of at least one of a fuel and an oxidant is disclosed. The fuel cell stack includes a membrane-electrode assembly, an anode separator, a cathode separator and a filing member. The membrane-electrode assembly may include an electrolyte membrane, an anode formed on a first surface of the electrolyte membrane, and a cathode formed on a second surface of the electrolyte membrane. The anode separator may include a fuel channel, a fuel inlet manifold in fluid communication with the fuel channel, and a fuel outlet manifold in fluid communication with the fuel channel. The cathode separator may include an oxidant channel, an oxidant inlet manifold in fluid communication with the oxidant channel, and an oxidant outlet manifold in fluid communication with the oxidant channel. The filling member may be positioned within at least one of the fuel inlet manifold and the oxidant inlet manifold. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110311889 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, a fuel gas passage, and an oxidant gas passage. The fuel cell includes a solid polymer membrane, a fuel electrode, and an oxidant electrode. A coolant flows into the fuel cell via a coolant passage to adjust a temperature of the fuel cell. An oxidant gas outlet temperature detector is configured to detect an outlet temperature of an oxidant gas discharged from an outlet of the oxidant gas passage. A coolant temperature detector is configured to detect a temperature of the coolant passing through an inlet or an outlet of the coolant passage. A dry-up controller is configured to decide that the solid polymer membrane is in a dry-up state when a temperature difference between the temperature of the coolant and the outlet temperature of the oxidant gas exceeds a first threshold value. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20120003550 | STEAM GENERATOR FOR FUEL CELL WITH DUAL USE FOR HEATING FUEL ELECTRODE GAS - The steam generator for a fuel cell with dual use for heating fuel electrode gas according to the invention is configured as a single unit comprising a steam generator ( | 01-05-2012 |
| 20120015261 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND STACK THEREOF - A fuel cell system having improved driving performance is disclosed. The fuel cell system includes a stack, which may include a membrane electrode assembly, a separator and end plates provided on the both sides of the stacked membrane electrode assembly and the separator. The membrane electrode assembly may include an anode electrode, a cathode electrode, and an electrolyte membrane. The separator may be positioned with respect to the anode electrode and the cathode electrode, respectively. The end plate may include an oxidant inlet configured to supply oxidant to the cathode electrode, an unreacted oxidant outlet configured to output the unreacted oxidant from the cathode electrode, and a absorption member in fluid communication between the oxidant inlet and the unreacted oxidant outlet. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120015262 | SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL DEVICE - The present invention comprises fuel cells | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120021306 | ACID FUEL CELL CONDENSING HEAT EXCHANGER - A heat exchanger for a fuel cell includes first and second heat exchanger portions that provide a fluid flow passage. The second heat exchanger portion is arranged downstream from the first heat exchanger portion. The first and second heat exchanger portions include a coolant flow passage, which is provided by tubes in one example. The first and second heat exchanger portions are configured to transfer heat between the fluid flow and coolant flow passages. The first heat exchanger portion is configured to provide a first heat transfer rate capacity. The second heat exchanger portion includes a second heat transfer rate capacity that is greater than the first heat transfer rate capacity. In one example, the first heat exchanger portion includes tubes and does not include any fins, and the second heat exchanger includes spaced apart fins supporting the tubes. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120021307 | SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL DEVICE - The present invention comprises individual fuel cells | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120028138 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND DRIVING METHOD FOR THE SAME - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack that includes a plurality of unit cells, each including a membrane-electrode assembly including an electrolyte membrane, a cathode at one side of the electrolyte membrane, and an anode at an opposite side of the electrolyte membrane, and separators at respective sides of the membrane-electrode assembly, a fuel supply for supplying a fuel to the fuel cell stack, an oxidizing agent supply for supplying an oxidizing agent to the fuel cell stack, and a controller for controlling operation of the fuel supply and the oxidizing agent supply, for measuring a voltage of each of the unit cells, and for turning off a load coupled to the fuel cell stack after determining that the voltages of the unit cells reached a reference voltage. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120058404 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The moisture state of a fuel cell is determined without causing any variation in the supply state of the reactant gas to be supplied to the fuel cell. An output current control section [[71]] temporarily performs a current sweep while maintaining the amount of oxidant gas to be supplied to the fuel cell. A resistance component calculation section [[72 | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120070752 | METHOD FOR FORMING CHANNELS ON DIFFUSION MEDIA FOR A MEMBRANE HUMIDIFIER - A membrane humidifier assembly for a membrane humidifier for a fuel cell system and a method for making the same is disclosed, the method comprising the steps of providing a material for forming a diffusion medium; forming a plurality of channels in the material with one of a channel-forming roller, a means for etching the material, and a press for forming the diffusion medium; and providing a pair of membranes, wherein the diffusion medium is disposed between the pair of membranes. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120077096 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND PROCESSES - A fuel cell system comprises an oxygen removing device having an inlet fluidly connected to at least one of the reactant gas source and an outlet of the cathode gas flow field, and an outlet fluidly connected to each of an anode control valve and a cathode control valve. Various fuel cell operation processes are also disclosed. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120077097 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND OPERATION METHOD THEREFOR - A fuel cell system of the present invention includes: a fuel cell apparatus; an exhaust gas passage through which an exhaust gas from the fuel cell apparatus is discharged; and a water tank configured to store water present within the exhaust gas. The water tank includes a first reservoir, a second reservoir, and a communication part which is configured to allow the first reservoir and the second reservoir to communicate with each other at a lower part of the water tank. The second reservoir of the water tank is provided with a drain outlet which is disposed above the communication part. The exhaust gas passage is connected to the first reservoir of the water tank. The exhaust gas passage is configured such that: in cases where a flow of the exhaust gas within the exhaust gas passage is not blocked at any position downstream from the water tank, the exhaust gas is discharged to the atmosphere from the exhaust gas passage; and in cases where the flow of the exhaust gas within the exhaust gas passage is blocked at a position downstream from the water tank, the exhaust gas is discharged to the atmosphere through the drain outlet of the water tank. | 03-29-2012 |
| 20120082910 | Carbon-based fuel cell system - An energy generation system includes a carbon reformer, an enthalpy wheel, and an electrochemical cell. The system allows production of electrical power using a variety of carbon-based fuels through a carbon monoxide intermediate and a means to isolate the carbon monoxide from waste products prior to injection into the fuel cell. The fuel cell oxidizes carbon monoxide and reduces oxygen spontaneously to develop electric current. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120088166 | FUEL CELL, METHOD FOR OPERATING FUEL CELL AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system comprising a fuel cell having plural membrane-electrode assemblies and plates, fuel and oxidant humidifiers and heater exchanger. Heat exchange between a supply inlet and discharge outlet is carried out between first and second heat exchange mediums. Fuel gas and oxidant gas are directed to flow parallel to each other in the fuel cell. A circulation path is established through the fuel and oxidant humidifiers and the heat exchanger by interconnection among discharge outlet, heat exchanger, fuel and oxidant humidifiers, and inlet. | 04-12-2012 |
| 20120094195 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND SCAVENGING METHOD THEREFOR - A fuel cell having an oxygen-containing gas flow field and a fuel gas flow field, an oxygen-containing gas supply apparatus for supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the oxygen-containing gas flow field, a fuel gas supply apparatus for supplying a fuel gas to the fuel gas flow field, a scavenging gas supply apparatus for supplying air as a scavenging gas to the fuel gas flow field, and a controller are provided. The controller includes a voltage detection unit for detecting the voltage of the fuel cell after operation of the fuel cell is stopped and a scavenging control unit for starting scavenging in the fuel gas flow field by the scavenging gas supply apparatus after the detected voltage is decreased temporarily, increased, and decreased again to become a preset voltage or less. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120115053 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system configured to prevent fuel cell freezing is disclosed. The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, a reformer in fluid communication with the fuel cell, the reformer including a reactor and a heat feeding unit. A moisture supplying pipe is in fluid communication with the reformer and a reformer exhausting pipe is in fluid communication with the reformer. The reformer exhaust pipe is in fluid communication with the moisture supplying pipe and configured to pass high temperature gas discharged from the reformer exhaust pipe to the moisture supplying pipe. The fuel cell system may remove moisture in the fuel cell and may also prevent the moisture from freezing by using thermal energy generated during operation of the heat feeding unit. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120115054 | WATER REACTIVE HYDROGEN FUEL CELL POWER SYSTEM - A water reactive hydrogen fueled power system includes devices and methods to combine reactant fuel materials and aqueous solutions to generate hydrogen. The generated hydrogen is converted in a fuel cell to provide electricity. The water reactive hydrogen fueled power system includes a fuel cell, a water feed tray, and a fuel cartridge to generate power for portable power electronics. The removable fuel cartridge is encompassed by the water feed tray and fuel cell. The water feed tray is refillable with water by a user. The water is then transferred from the water feed tray into the fuel cartridge to generate hydrogen for the fuel cell which then produces power for the user. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120164547 | CPOX Reactor Design for Liquid Fuel and Liquid Water - A method of operating a fuel cell system includes flowing a liquid fuel and optionally liquid water in sufficient proximity to a CPOX reactor such that heat from the CPOX reactor is used to vaporize the liquid fuel and optionally the liquid water. The fuel is then provided from the CPOX reactor to a fuel cell stack. | 06-28-2012 |
| 20120171583 | GAS PHASE ELECTROCHEMICAL REDUCTION OF CARBON DIOXIDE - Methods and systems for gas phase electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide are disclosed. A method for gas phase electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide may include, but is not limited to, steps (A) to (C). Step (A) may include introducing a substantially gas phase fuel to an anode flow field of an anode of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Said anode may be a gas diffusion electrode. Step (B) may include introducing a substantially gas phase carbon dioxide to a cathode flow field of a cathode of said PEM fuel cell. Said cathode may be a chemically modified gas diffusion electrode including a coating of a polymer aromatic amine. Step (C) may include reducing at least a portion of said substantially gas phase carbon dioxide to a product mixture at said cathode. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120171584 | Hot Box Design with a Multi-Stream Heat Exchanger and Single Air Control - A fuel cell stack module includes a plurality of fuel cell stacks, an anode tail gas oxidizer (ATO) which is located in a heat transfer relationship with the plurality of fuel cell stacks, a base supporting the plurality of fuel cell stacks and the ATO, and at least one heat exchanger located in the base. An ATO exhaust stream and an anode exhaust stream from the fuel cell stacks heat the stack fuel and air inlet streams in a multi-stream heat exchanger. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20120189924 | METHOD OF OPERATING POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL - A polymer electrolyte fuel cell includes a cathode, an anode, and an electrolyte membrane sandwiched between the cathode and the anode. A plurality of projections each having a height of 5 to 15 μm or a plurality of depressions each having a depth of 5 to 15 μm are formed on a surface of the electrolyte membrane, the surface being opposed to the cathode. The cathode is constituted by a catalyst layer formed to tightly contact the surface of the electrolyte membrane and having a maximum thickness that is one to three times the height of the projection or the depth of the depression. An oxygen-containing gas having a relative humidity of 10% or less is supplied to the cathode, and electric power is generated by using the polymer electrolyte fuel cell. | 07-26-2012 |
| 20120196195 | SOFC Hot Box Components - Various hot box fuel cell system components are provided, such as heat exchangers, steam generator and other components. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120237839 | REFORMING APPARATUS FOR FUEL CELL - In a reforming apparatus, for use in a fuel cell, for reforming a raw fuel into a hydrogen-rich reformed gas, a reformer generates the reformed gas from the raw fuel. A shift reactor reduces carbon monoxide contained in the reformed gas through a shift reaction. A selective oxidation unit reduces the carbon monoxide contained in the reformed gas that has passed through the shift reactor by performing selective oxidation on the carbon monoxide. A reforming reaction tube houses linearly the reformer, the shift reactor and the selective oxidation unit in this order. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120237840 | POWER GENERATION SYSTEM - Included are: a power generation unit configured to generate electric power by consuming a raw material gas that has passed through a gas meter, the gas meter being configured to, if a state where continuously stopping a flow of the raw material gas for a reset period or longer is not performed has continued for a first upper limit period or longer, exert at least one of a function of outputting an abnormality indication signal and a function of blocking the flow of the raw material gas; a raw material gas supply device configured to supply the raw material gas to the power generation unit; and a controller. The controller is configured to: perform a raw material gas supply operation of supplying the raw material gas from the raw material gas supply device to the power generation unit in a case of performing normal stopping of a power generation operation; and stop the power generation operation, and stop the raw material gas supply operation until at least the reset period elapses, in a case where gas supply abnormality in which said state continues for a second upper limit period or longer has occurred, the second upper limit period being shorter than the first upper limit period. | 09-20-2012 |
| 20120251900 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system is equipped with an expander which is driven by an off-gas exhausted from an oxidant eject path, and which transmits motive power to a compressor, a bypass route in the oxidant eject path which bypasses a humidifier, a flow control valve which changes an opening degree of the bypass route, a voltage sensor which detects an output voltage of the fuel cell stack, a current sensor which detects an output current of the fuel cell stack, and a bypass controlling member which changes a bypass ratio which is a ratio of a magnitude of a flow rate of the off-gas circulating the bypass route with respect to an overall flow rate of the off-gas ejected from the fuel cell stack to the oxidant eject path by the flow control valve according to the output power of the fuel cell stack. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120251901 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND CORRESPONDING OPERATING PROCESS - A fuel cell system ( | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120251902 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND CORRESPONDING OPERATING PROCESS - A fuel cell system ( | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120251903 | SELF-HUMIDIFYING MEMBRANE AND SELF-HUMIDIFYING FUEL CELL - A self-humidifying fuel cell is made by preparing a porous substrate, coating the substrate with a zeolitic material and filling the pores with a proton-conducting material. The coating of the substrate includes selecting a zeolitic material, and applying coating on the pore walls and surface of the porous substrate, to form zeolitic material-coated pores. The resulting composite material is used as a self-humidifying proton-conducting membrane in a fuel cell. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120251904 | FUEL CELL MODULE - A fuel cell module includes: in a casing, a fuel cell stack that is formed by stacking a plurality of unit cells; and an oxidant gas distributing member that is disposed at a side surface, that extends in a stack direction, of the fuel cell stack, that extends in a direction from one end to another end of each of the unit cells, and that supplies the oxidant gas along the oxidant gas distributing member from the one end to the another end to supply the oxidant gas to the another end of each unit cell. The oxidant gas distributing member includes a heat exchange restraint portion that restrains heat exchange between the unit cells and the oxidant gas in at least one of end portions of the fuel cell stack in the stack direction, in comparison with the heat exchange thereof in other portion in the fuel cell stack. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20120258375 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STOPPING POWER GENERATION IN FUEL CELL SYSTEM - An oxygen-containing gas supply device of a fuel cell system is equipped with an oxygen-containing gas supply flow passage that communicates with an oxygen-containing gas inlet of a fuel cell. An oxygen-containing gas discharge flow passage communicates with an oxygen-containing gas outlet of the fuel cell. A compressor is disposed in the oxygen-containing gas supply flow passage and a supply flow passage sealing valve is disposed downstream from the compressor in the oxygen-containing gas supply flow passage. A discharge flow passage sealing valve is disposed in the oxygen-containing gas discharge flow passage, and a discharge fluid circulation flow passage that communicates with the oxygen-containing gas discharge flow passage is disposed at a location upstream from the discharge flow passage sealing valve, while also communicating with the oxygen-containing gas supply flow passage at a location upstream from the compressor. | 10-11-2012 |
| 20120264026 | WET SIDE PAPER FOR FUEL CELL HUMIDIFIER - A glass fiber-based paper diffusion medium, as well as a membrane humidifier for a fuel cell and method for humidifying a fuel cell using the provided glass fiber-based paper diffusion medium. The diffusion medium is a flexible, resin-bonded glass fiber paper impregnated with 26-55% cured liquid phenolic resin and having a thickness of 100-110 μm and a Gurley permeability of at least 100 cfm. | 10-18-2012 |
| 20120270120 | HUMIDIFIER FOR FUEL CELL - Disclosed is a humidifier for fuel cell, which facilitates to maximize humidifying performance and reducing the maintenance cost through the uniform humidification among all the hollow fiber membranes by preventing high-humidity unreacted gas introduced to the inside of membrane housing from flowing concentratedly toward a specific region in the membrane housing, wherein the humidifier comprises a membrane housing; a partition plate for dividing an inner space of the membrane housing into plural unit spaces; plural hollow fiber membranes in each of the unit spaces; and a cover mounted on an end of the membrane housing, the cover including an inlet for introducing unreacted gas of high-humidity discharged from a stack into the membrane housing, wherein plural distribution holes are provided in the membrane housing, the distribution holes corresponding to the unit spaces respectively. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120270121 | HYDROGEN GENERATION DEVICE AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A hydrogen generation apparatus | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120276462 | DRIVE UNIT, LENS MODULE, IMAGE PICKUP UNIT, FUEL CELL, AND ION EXCHANGE RESIN - There are provided a drive unit, a lens module, an image pickup unit, a fuel cell, and an ion exchange resin, in which a characteristic deterioration depending on an ambient environment may be suppressed. The drive unit includes one or more polymer actuator devices. The polymer actuator device is configured using an ion exchange resin containing a moisturizing agent. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120282533 | HUMIDIFIER FOR FUEL CELL - Disclosed is a humidifier for fuel cell which is capable of realizing high humidifying efficiency owing to the maximum contact area of hollow fiber membranes with reaction gas to be supplied to the fuel cell by enabling the uniform humidifying level in all the hollow fiber membranes provided inside the humidifier. The humidifier comprises a membrane housing including a first end, a second end positioned at an opposite side of the first end, and plural holes provided along the outer circumferential surface of the second end; hollow fiber membranes having both ends respectively potted into the first and second ends of the membrane housing, wherein the hollow fiber membranes are positioned inside the membrane housing; and a cap including an inlet for moisture-containing unreacted gas, wherein the cap is installed at the second end of the membrane housing, and an inner surface of the cap is provided with plural projections enabling to uniformly distribute the moisture-containing unreacted gas supplied through the inlet to the plural holes. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20120288773 | Apparatus for Humidifying a Gas Flow - In a device for humidifying a gas flow, an atomized liquid is combined with a gas flow in a spray chamber, and passed through a generally U-shaped gas flow passage having a first generally vertical part | 11-15-2012 |
| 20120301798 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell formed by stacking a plurality of power generation cells, and an oxygen-containing gas supply apparatus for supplying an oxygen-containing gas to the fuel cell. The oxygen-containing gas supply apparatus includes an oxygen-containing gas supply channel connected to an oxygen-containing gas inlet of the fuel cell for allowing the oxygen-containing gas to flow from an air pump into the oxygen-containing gas inlet, a branch supply channel branched from the oxygen-containing gas supply channel and which is opened to the inside of a fuel cell chamber, an oxygen-containing gas discharge channel for discharging an oxygen-containing off gas from the fuel cell, and an oxygen-containing off gas circulation channel one end of which is connected to the oxygen-containing gas discharge channel, and another end of which is connected to the oxygen-containing gas supply channel at a position upstream from the air pump. | 11-29-2012 |
| 20120308904 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM HAVING A FLUID FLOW DISTRIBUTION FEATURE - A fuel cell system includes a water vapor transfer unit and a fluid flow distribution feature, the water vapor transfer unit including a first plate having a plurality of first flow channels for receiving a flow of a first fluid therein, and a second plate having a plurality of second flow channels for receiving a flow of a second fluid therein. The fluid flow distribution feature is configured to control at least one of a volume of flow of the first fluid through the first flow channels and a volume of flow of the second fluid through the second flow channels, wherein at least one of a flow distribution of the first fluid across the first plate and a flow distribution of the second fluid across the second plate is varied. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120315556 | FUEL CELL REACTANT INLET HUMIDIFICATION - In a proton exchange membrane fuel cell power plant ( | 12-13-2012 |
| 20120321972 | WATER MANAGEMENT IN FUEL CELLS - An electrochemical fuel cell having an anode, an ion transfer membrane and a cathode has liquid water delivered to the fluid flow channels within the cathode so as to maintain a relative humidity of 100% throughout the fluid flow channels. A calibration method and apparatus is described for determining an optimum quantity or range of quantities of liquid water to be delivered to the cathode fluid flow channels under varying operating conditions. An operating method and apparatus is described that ensures an optimum quantity of liquid water is delivered to the cathode fluid flow channels under varying operating conditions. | 12-20-2012 |
| 20130022883 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR ACTIVATING FUEL CELL STACK - Disclosed is an apparatus and method for activating a fuel cell stack, which significantly reduces the time required for activation and the amount of hydrogen used for the activation by employing a vacuum wetting process in a shutdown operation. In particular, a high humidity open circuit voltage operation humidifies the fuel cell stack and operates the fuel cell stack at an open circuit voltage, and a vacuum wetting operation wets the surface of a polymer electrolyte membrane by creating a vacuum atmosphere in the fuel cell stack. The high humidity open circuit voltage operation and the vacuum wetting operation are performed alternately and repeatedly. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130022884 | THREE-WAY DIVERTER ASSEMBLY FOR A FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A three-way diverter assembly with a movable member is provided. The three-way diverter assembly includes a housing having a first inlet, a second inlet, a first outlet, and a second outlet. The first inlet and the second inlet are adapted to receive a fluid. The movable member, disposed in the housing adjacent the first inlet, is rotatable about an axis from a first positional limit to a second positional limit, and selectively positional therebetween. Fuel cell systems having the three-way diverter assembly for regulating temperature and humidity of a fuel cell stack are also provided. | 01-24-2013 |
| 20130034782 | Fuel Cell System and Method of Operating the fuel Cell System - A method of operating a fuel cell system includes the steps of temporarily supplying a raw fuel to an electrode surface of an anode at the time of starting operation of the fuel cell system, supplying water vapor to the electrode surface of the anode at least based on any of the temperature of a fuel cell stack and the temperature of an evaporator after stopping the supply of the raw fuel, and supplying a fuel gas to the electrode surface of the anode by supplying the raw fuel and the water to the evaporator at least based on any of detection results of the pressure of the water supplied to the evaporator, the flow rate of the water supplied to the evaporator), the pressure of the water vapor discharged from the evaporator, and the flow rate of the water vapor discharged from the evaporator. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20130059215 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREFOR - A fuel cell system and a control method therefor are provided. The fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell formed of a plurality of stacked power generating elements; a cell voltage measuring unit detecting negative voltage in any one of the power generating elements; a control unit controlling electric power output from the fuel cell; and an accumulated current value measuring unit measuring an accumulated current value obtained by time integration of current output from the fuel cell. The control unit prestores a correlation between accumulated current values and current densities that are allowable for the fuel cell in a period during which negative voltage is generated. When negative voltage has been detected, the control unit executes output restricting process of restricting electric power output from the fuel cell so as to fall within an operation allowable range defined by the accumulated current values and current densities of the correlation. | 03-07-2013 |
| 20130065140 | MEMBRANE HUMIDIFIER FOR FUEL CELL - Disclosed is a membrane humidifier for a fuel cell, which uniformly humidifies entire hollow fiber membranes from an outer side to a central portion of an interior of the membrane humidifier to improve the distribution of wet air and dry air, thereby improving a humidification performance. The membrane humidifier for the fuel cell includes a hollow upper case including first wet air inlet apertures and first wet air outlet apertures and a membrane module assembly including a plurality of unit membrane modules received lengthwise within the upper case along the flow direction of dry air. | 03-14-2013 |
| 20130078542 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A control device of a fuel cell system sets a required output of a fuel cell stack that is required according to a present power demand and predicts the required output and the current according to the temperature of the fuel cell stack from a predetermined output state map that is preset. The control device sets an operation state quantity according to the predicted current and the temperature of the fuel cell stack from a predetermined operation state quantity map that is preset. The control device includes at least one of a pressure at an air supply port of air that is supplied to the cathode electrode of the fuel cell stack, a utilization rate of the air at the cathode electrode, a flow rate of a cooling medium that cools the fuel cell stack, and humidity of the air at the air supply port as the operation state quantity. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130101909 | Humidifier for a Fuel Cell - A humidifier for a fuel cell has a stacked unit of several water-permeable membranes which are parallel to each other and are arranged spaced apart form each other. On the edges of the membranes, a sealant is applied which closes a flow space between neighboring membranes fluid-tightly and serves as a spacer. | 04-25-2013 |
| 20130137003 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system is provided with a fuel cell, a gas supply passage which supplies a reaction gas to the fuel cell, a humidifier which humidifies the reaction gas, a first gas discharge passage which leads from a first gas discharge outlet of the fuel cell through the humidifier to the outside, and a second gas discharge flow passage which leads from a second gas discharge outlet of the fuel cell to the outside. A flow rate control mechanism which controls the flow rate of discharge gas is provided in at least one of the first gas discharge passage and the second gas discharge passage. The configuration reduces the distance between the fuel cell and the humidifier to obtain a compact system structure. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130164640 | OPERATION METHOD OF POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL SYSTEM - An operation method of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell system including an anode ( | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130189595 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM CAPABLE OF PERFORMING GAS PURGE TO ADJUST AMOUNT OF WATER THEREIN - A fuel cell system includes: a fuel cell having laminated cells; a measuring unit that measures an impedance of the cell and a purging unit that performs purging to discharge residual water from a gas passage. The cell includes a wet region and a dry region which are set depending on a distribution of water in the cell when the purging is executed so as to set a total amount of water in the fuel cell to be a necessary amount of water to start up the fuel cell; the measuring unit measures the impedance at a local portion located at a boundary portion between the wet region and the dry region in the cell; and the purging unit terminates the purging when the impedance measured by the measuring means is larger than a predetermined reference threshold value. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130189596 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM, METHOD AND PROGRAM OF DETERMINING CAUSE OF NEGATIVE VOLTAGE, AND STORAGE MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell; a voltage measuring portion that measures a voltage of the fuel cell; an electric current adjusting portion that adjusts an electric current flowing in the fuel cell; an electric current-voltage characteristic information obtaining portion that controls the electric current adjusting portion to change the electric current, and obtains electric current-voltage characteristic information that is information indicating a correspondence relation between an electric current value and a voltage value measured by the voltage measuring portion; and a negative voltage cause determining portion that determines, if the voltage of the fuel cell is a negative voltage, a cause of the negative voltage of the fuel cell, based on the obtained electric current-voltage characteristic information. | 07-25-2013 |
| 20130202975 | IN-VEHICLE FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system mounted in a vehicle includes a fuel cell stack, a coolant supply mechanism, and a fuel gas supply mechanism. The coolant supply mechanism includes a coolant supply pipe and a coolant discharge pipe, provided on a front side in a traveling direction of the vehicle, relative to the fuel cell stack. The fuel gas supply mechanism includes a fuel gas supply pipe, provided on a rear side in the traveling direction, relative to the fuel cell stack. | 08-08-2013 |
| 20130252116 | Model Based Approach For In-Situ WVTD Degradation Detection In Fuel Cell Vehicles - A method of estimating water vapor transfer unit degradation without having to remove the unit from a fuel cell system to which it cooperates, and a device performing the same. The method includes using a combination of a backward-looking model and a forward-looking model. The first of these models is used to evaluate changes in water vapor transfer effectiveness in the unit, while the second is for determining the water transfer rate of the unit. Together, the models provide a more accurate way to estimate and control relative humidity for both stack inlet and outlet flowpaths, as well as provide an indication of when service or replacement of the water vapor transfer unit may be warranted. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130252117 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR HUMIDIFIED FLUID STREAM DELIVERY TO FUEL CELL STACK - An apparatus for providing a humidified cathode fluid stream to a fuel cell stack is disclosed. The apparatus comprising a first humidifier including membranes and a compressor. The first humidifier is configured to receive a cathode fluid stream and to humidify the cathode fluid stream with water from a recirculated fluid stream to provide a first humidified cathode stream. The compressor is configured to receive the first humidified cathode stream and to provide a first pressurized humidified cathode stream. The compressor is further configured to generate a pressure differential across the first humidifier such that the membranes are humidified with the water. | 09-26-2013 |
| 20130288141 | FUEL CELL, METHOD FOR OPERATING FUEL CELL AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell, a method for operating a fuel cell and a fuel cell system, which ensure no dew condensation for a wet reaction gas in the inlet area of gas channels in plates in a fuel cell stack, are provided. Gas channels | 10-31-2013 |
| 20130302706 | DEVICE FOR GENERATING ELECTRICITY USING A FUEL CELL - The invention relates to a device for generating electricity using a fuel cell, comprising means for producing fuel gas and oxidant gas, and at least one conditioning unit for one of the fuel and oxidant gases. The conditioning unit comprises at least one means for dehydrating the gas before its storage under pressure, at least one means for storing the gas under pressure, and at least one means for humidifying the gas after it has been taken out of storage. According to the invention, the dehydration means is configured in such a way that, in fuel cell operating mode, it operates at a temperature of at least 60° C. and at least partially humidifies the gas passing through it in fuel cell operating mode, by restoring at least some of the water extracted from the gas that passed through it in the gas production and storage mode. | 11-14-2013 |
| 20130323613 | GRAPHENE-BASED SELF-HUMIDIFYING MEMBRANE AND SELF-HUMIDIFYING FUEL CELL - A self-humidifying fuel cell is made by preparing a porous substrate, coating the substrate with a zeolitic material (or a graphene derivative) and filling the pores with a mixture of graphene derivative and proton-conducting material (or a proton-conducting material). The coating of the substrate includes selecting a zeolitic material, and applying coating on the pore walls and surface of the porous substrate, to form zeolitic material-coated pores. The resulting composite material is used as a self-humidifying proton-conducting membrane in a fuel cell. | 12-05-2013 |
| 20130330642 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system including a fuel cell which includes a single cell including a membrane electrode assembly which includes an anode electrode provided on one surface of a polymer electrolyte membrane and a cathode electrode provided on the other side of the same, wherein the fuel cell system includes a means for controlling the fuel cell so that relative humidity RH | 12-12-2013 |
| 20130344404 | HYBRID HUMIDIFIER FUEL CELL - A hybrid humidifier fuel cell for ensuring adequate humidification of a reactant gas stream in a fuel cell stack, during both steady-state, as well as transient operation. The device provides for improved performance through the use a primary humidification and a secondary humidification. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20130344405 | METHOD OF USING A HYBRID HUMIDIFIER FUEL CELL - A method of using a hybrid humidifier fuel cell for ensuring adequate humidification of a reactant gas stream in a fuel cell stack, during both steady-state, as well as transient operation. The device provides for improved performance through the use a primary humidification and a secondary humidification. | 12-26-2013 |
| 20140017581 | COMPACT FUEL CELL - A fuel cell including a stack of electrochemical cells and first and second end plates, an inside circuit for flowing deionized water inside the stack connected to an outside circuit for flowing deionized water outside the stack, the deionized water forming a coolant, a circuit for supplying hydrogen to the cells and a circuit for supplying air to the cells, and a casing mounted to the first end plate and forming a tight volume at least partially filled with water where the inside circuit emerges for flowing the coolant. The circuits for supplying air and hydrogen pass through the tight volume and are dipped into the deionized water to exchange heat with the deionized water. A portion of the supply circuit enables air to be humidified with water contained in the tight volume. | 01-16-2014 |
| 20140050997 | MEMBRANE ELECTRODE ASSEMBLY FOR FUEL CELL OR REDOX FLOW BATTERY - A membrane electrode assembly includes a reactor constructed from a ion-permeable membrane between a cathode space and an anode space. The membrane includes an extended membrane area which extends outside of the area of the cathode and anode spaces. A carrier layer is attached to and supports the membrane extended area, and the carrier layer is arranged with an integrated circuit adjacent to the fuel cell. | 02-20-2014 |
| 20140057186 | FUEL CELL AND METHOD OF OPERATING FUEL CELL - In a method of operating a fuel cell, a voltage difference between voltages of a first unit cell and a second unit cell is detected. Whether the voltage difference is out of a predetermined range is determined. If the voltage difference is determined to be out of the predetermined range, humidity of a first reactant gas before being supplied to a first reactant gas passage is adjusted or humidity of a second reactant gas before being supplied to a second reactant gas passage is adjusted. The first reactant gas passage is provided in a first separator. The first reactant gas is to be supplied to one of first electrodes through the first reactant gas passage. The second reactant gas is to be supplied to another of the first electrodes through the second reactant gas passage. | 02-27-2014 |
| 20140087277 | WICKING LAYER FOR MANAGING MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION IN A FUEL CELL - An exemplary device for managing moisture content within a fuel cell includes a reactant distribution plate having a plurality of members that establish reactant flow channels that are open on at least one side of the plate. A wicking layer is against the one side of the plate. The wicking layer includes a first portion that is uninterrupted and covers over at least some of the channels. A second portion of the wicking layer extends along ends of at least some of the members such that sections of the channels coextensive with the second portion are open toward the one side. | 03-27-2014 |
| 20140093795 | REGENERATIVE FUEL CELL SYSTEM - The reservoirs | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140093796 | WET STATE CONTROL DEVICE FOR FUEL CELL - A wet state control device for fuel cell includes a priority control unit for preferentially controlling either one of a pressure and a flow rate of cathode gas when a wet state of a fuel cell is adjusted, a water temperature control unit for controlling a temperature of cooling water when the wet state of the fuel cell is not completely adjustable by a control of the priority control unit, and a complementary control unit for controlling the other of the pressure and the flow rate of the cathode gas to complement a response delay of the water temperature control unit. | 04-03-2014 |
| 20140120433 | Apparatus and Method of In-Situ Measurement of Membrane Fluid Crossover - Assemblies and methods for measuring in-situ membrane fluid crossover are provided. One embodiment of an in-situ fuel cell membrane crossover measurement assembly as disclosed herein comprises an anode fluid supply configured to supply anode fluid to an anode side of a proton exchange membrane; a cathode fluid supply configured to supply cathode fluid to a cathode side of the proton exchange membrane; a collection chamber configured to receive an exhaust from one of the anode side and the cathode side of the proton exchange membrane; and means for detecting a crossover fluid in the exhaust. The crossover fluid is from the cathode fluid if the exhaust is collected from the anode side and the crossover fluid is from the anode fluid if the exhaust is collected from the cathode side. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140120434 | METHOD FOR DETERMINING MEMBRANE PROTONIC RESISTANCE OF A FUEL CELL STACK - A method for determining membrane humidification by determining the membrane protonic resistance of a fuel cell stack at humidified conditions, and normalizing the base resistance of the fuel cell stack against the base resistance of a reference fuel cell stack. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140120435 | METHOD OF CONTROLLING FUEL CELL USING THE METHOD OF PREDICTING DEGRADATION OF FUEL CELL CATALYST - A particle size distribution creating method includes a particle size range determining step, an integrating step of integrating the frequency of appearance of particles within the particle size range determined in the particle size range determining step, a division point determining step of determining particle sizes that provide division points, using the integral of the frequency of appearance obtained in the integrating step, and a typical point determining step of determining the minimum particle size, maximum particle size and the particle sizes of the division points as typical points. This method is characterized by assuming a particle size distribution which contains particles having the particle sizes of the respective typical points and is plotted such that the frequency of appearance of the particles having the particle size of each of the typical points is equal to the integral over each of the regions defined by the typical points, and obtaining the assumed particle size distribution as a particle size distribution model. | 05-01-2014 |
| 20140134506 | Proton Exchange Membrane - A proton exchange membrane with self-humidifying characteristics having proton conducing polymer nanofibers with hygroscopic characteristics and a second polymer impregnated into voids between the nanofibers to form a self-humidifying proton exchange membrane. Also disclosed is a proton exchange membrane having polymer or inorganic material nanofibers with hygroscopic characteristics and a proton conducting second polymer impregnated into voids between the nanofibers. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140134507 | Humidifier, in Particular for a Fuel Cell - A humidifier has a housing in which a moisture exchanger is arranged. The moisture exchanger has water-permeable and/or water-vapor permeable hollow fibers. The hollow fibers separate a first flow path and a second flow path from each other. A spacer secures the hollow fibers in a defined position within the housing. The spacer contains a moisture storage medium that is at least partially made of a superabsorbent material. | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140147759 | VEHICLE APPLICATION FOR AIR STORAGE CATHODE CARBON LOSS ESTIMATION - A system and method for estimating an amount of carbon support loss in fuel cells of a fuel cell stack in a vehicle, for example, during vehicle off-times. The system and method include estimating an amount of time that a hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero and calculating an amount of carbon loss based on the amount of time that the hydrogen concentration in the fuel cell stack is zero. | 05-29-2014 |
| 20140162150 | HUMIDIFYING APPARATUS AND METHOD OF FUEL CELL - A humidifying apparatus of a fuel cell is provided that includes a housing, a hollow fiber membrane module, valve, a sensor, and a controller. More specifically, a hollow fiber membrane module is disposed inside a housing. This housing has a first inlet and a first outlet formed in both side surfaces of an outer circumferential surface of the housing, and a second inlet and a second outlet formed at one side and an opposite side of the housing. Additionally, a valve is mounted in the first outlet of housing and a sensor is configured to sense a control factor of a fuel cell stack. A controller is also configured to output a control signal to adjust how much the valve is opened or closed according to a sensing signal from the sensor. | 06-12-2014 |
| 20140162151 | HUMIDIFICATION CONTROL METHOD FOR FUEL CELL - A humidification control method includes the steps of detecting a direct current resistance component by measuring impedance during power generation of a fuel cell stack, calculating a reaction resistance component based on the detected direct current resistance component and a stack voltage, detecting a humidified state of the fuel cell stack based on the detected direct current resistance component and the calculated reaction resistance component, and adjusting a quantity of humidification of a reaction gas supplied to the fuel cell stack based on the detected humidified state of the fuel cell stack. | 06-12-2014 |
| 20140178779 | Fuel Cell System Comprising a Water Separator - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell with an anode chamber and a cathode chamber. The fuel cell system also includes a recirculation device that recirculates anode exhaust gas to the anode input, which includes a discharge line for discharging liquid and/or gas from the region of the recirculation device, and an air conveying device for supplying the cathode chamber with a supply air flow. A water separator, which is connected to the discharge line and through which at least a portion of the supply air flow passes, is situated between the air conveying device and the cathode chamber in the area of the supply air flow. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140186726 | METHOD TO DIAGNOSE FUEL CELL HUMIDIFICATION PROBLEMS - A system and method for determining if an RH sensor that measures the relative humidity of cathode inlet air provided to a fuel cell stack or an HFR circuit that measures stack water content is operating properly. The method provides the cathode inlet air through a WVT unit that increases the water content of the cathode inlet air. The method uses a water buffer model for determining the water content of the fuel cell stack based on inputs from a plurality of system components and revises a water transfer model using the HFR humidification signal or the RH signal to correct for WVT unit degradation. The method determines whether the RH sensor or the HFR circuit is operating properly, such as by determining if the HFR humidification signal is increasing at a rate that is faster than what the stack water content is able to increase. | 07-03-2014 |
| 20140186727 | HUMIDIFICATION APPARATUS FOR FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A humidification apparatus for a fuel cell system is provided herein. A membrane humidifier includes humid air inlets, through which humid air discharged from a cathode of a fuel cell stack is introduced, and air outlets, through which air humidifying dry air in hollow fiber membranes is discharged, an air line connected from a cathode outlet of the fuel cell stack to the humid air inlets of the membrane humidifier to supply humid air. Exhaust lines are connected to the air outlets. A flow control valve is provided in the air line and controls the introduction of humid air into the humid air inlets, respectively. An exhaust valve is also provided to open and close flow paths of the exhaust lines. A controller controls the opening and closing of the flow control valve and the exhaust valve based on operating conditions of the fuel cell stack. | 07-03-2014 |
| 20140199605 | Transient Inlet Relative Humidity Estimation Via Adaptive Cathode Humidification Unit Model And High Frequency Resistance - An apparatus and method to determine the relative humidity of a fuel cell system. A controller is cooperative with a first device and a second device to receive a valve signal and a high frequency resistance value. The controller controls the relative humidity of a fuel cell stack based on the estimation of the relative humidity of the fuel cell stack based on one or more algorithms. The controller modifies the relative humidity of the fuel cell stack through changes in the position of a valve based on at least one of the valve signal and the high frequency resistance value. In one form, the relative humidity of the fuel cell system is determined without the need of a humidity sensor. | 07-17-2014 |
| 20140272630 | CATHODE HUMIDIFICATION UNIT ADAPTING DEGREDATION FACTOR - A method and an apparatus to adapt the performance of a cathode humidification unit as a membrane in a fuel cell stack degrades over time. An algorithm compares a sensed humidity profile of the fuel cell stack and model humidity profile of a cathode humidification unit model to calculate a new degradation factor. The cathode humidification unit model uses the degradation factor in the performance of the cathode humidification unit. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140295302 | FUEL CELL MONITORING DEVICE - In a fuel cell monitoring device, a gas-diffusion resistance calculation section calculates a gas-diffusion resistance R | 10-02-2014 |
| 20140302411 | MEMBRANE HUMIDIFIER FOR FUEL CELL - A membrane humidifier for a fuel cell is provided and includes a plurality of wet air channels and dry air channels and a cooling channel. The plurality of wet air channels and dry air channels are disposed across a moisture exchange membrane. The cooling channel is adjacently disposed across a wet air channel and a cooling channel separator to condense wet air that passes through the wet air channel. | 10-09-2014 |
| 20140308595 | Fuel Cell System - A fuel cell system includes at least one fuel cell, line elements for supplying and discharging starting materials and/or products to/from the fuel cell, and at least one condensation unit. The condensation unit is situated in at least one of the line elements and, at least in individual operating phases of the fuel cell, the condensation unit is at a lower temperature level than the areas surrounding it and the fuel cell. | 10-16-2014 |
| 20140315108 | HYDROGEN FUEL CELL AND SYSTEM THEREOF, AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC VARIABLE HUMIDITY CONTROL - Disclosed are a hydrogen fuel cell and system thereof, and a method for dynamic variable humidity control; the hydrogen fuel cell includes a fuel cell stack assembly and an outside plate gas distribution device; the fuel cell stack assembly is encapsulated with a hard housing; the outside plate gas distribution device is fixed on the hard housing; the outside plate gas distribution device includes an outside plate gas distribution device for working gas flow and a heat dissipation gas distribution device; the outside plate gas distribution device for working gas flow is provided with a fan mount for connecting with a working fan, and the outside plate gas distribution device for working gas flow extends into the inner cavity of the housing from outside of the housing; the heat dissipation gas distribution device includes a heat dissipation channel set outside the housing and interconnected with the inner cavity of the housing, and a heat dissipation port set on the housing; and the heat dissipation channel is provided with a heat dissipation fan mount for connecting with a heat dissipation fan. The hydrogen fuel cell of the present invention improves power generation efficiency, reduces costs and increases lifetime. | 10-23-2014 |
| 20140329156 | HEATED EJECTOR ASSEMBLY FOR A FUEL CELL - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, an ejector in fluid communication with the fuel cell stack and having a converging-diverging (CD) nozzle with a hydrogen feed nozzle and a recirculation conduit upstream of a throat of the CD nozzle, and a thermal source configured to heat the ejector. A hydrogen supply assembly for a fuel cell system includes an ejector having a converging-diverging (CD) nozzle and a mixing chamber upstream of the CD nozzle. The mixing chamber has a recirculation conduit and a hydrogen feed nozzle. A thermal source is configured to heat the ejector. A method of controlling a hydrogen supply device for a fuel cell includes, in response to detecting a heating condition at fuel cell start up, controlling a thermal source to heat an ejector upstream of an anode stack to prevent ice formation in the ejector. | 11-06-2014 |
| 20140329157 | METHOD OF OPERATING FUEL CELL WITH HIGH POWER AND HIGH POWER FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell is operated with high power such that which a humidified gas and a dry gas are selectively supplied as oxidant to a cathode of the fuel cell. This method includes (S | 11-06-2014 |
| 20140342253 | AIR BLOWER FOR FUEL CELL VEHICLE - Provided is an air blower for a fuel cell vehicle in which a bypass flow amount that ensures a surge margin is used to cool a motor to improve the efficiency of the motor. More specifically, a seal is arranged on a rear of an impeller and an air-through channel through which a part of the compressed air flows into the inside of the motor from an impeller housing case by forming an air-through aperture is formed therein to cool the motor. | 11-20-2014 |
| 20140349201 | FUEL CELL ASSEMBLY AND METHOD OF CONTROL - An exemplary method includes of operating a fuel cell at a first power output level that includes a plurality of operation parameters. Each operation parameter has a value to satisfy a first power demand. A change between the first power demand and a second power demand is determined. At least a first one of the operation parameters is maintained at a value corresponding to the first power output level or at an intermediate value while at least a second one of the operation parameters is changed to a value corresponding to a second power output level to satisfy the second power demand. The first operation parameter is delayed from changing to a value corresponding to the second power output level until a predetermined criterion is met. | 11-27-2014 |
| 20140349202 | HUMIDIFYING HEAT EXCHANGER FOR FUEL CELL - The present invention relates to a humidifying heat exchanger for a fuel cell. The humidifying heat exchanger includes a body comprising a gas inflow hole defined in one end thereof and a gas discharge hole defined in the other end thereof in a longitudinal direction, a first tube disposed within the body, the first tube being spirally wound along the longitudinal direction of the body, a second tube disposed within the body and spirally wound along the longitudinal direction of the body, the second tube being disposed outside the first tube to surround the first tube, a supply unit disposed at a side of the gas discharge hole to supply a mixture of a fuel and water into the first and second tubes, and a discharge unit disposed at a side of the gas inflow hole to discharge the mixture supplied from the first and second tubes. | 11-27-2014 |
| 20140356739 | POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL - A polymer electrolyte fuel cell according to the present invention includes: a unit cell including a membrane-electrode assembly and a pair of separators; a manifold; a gas introducing member; and a first member. A recess is formed at a gas lead-out port side of the gas introducing member so as to be connected to the gas lead-out port. The first member is provided such that a communication portion thereof communicates with the manifold. The gas introducing member is provided such that: the recess communicates with the communication portion; and when viewed from a thickness direction of the polymer electrolyte membrane, the gas lead-out port and a main surface of the first member overlap each other. | 12-04-2014 |
| 20140377673 | FUEL CELL - A fuel cell including a stack in which a plurality of cells are stacked includes an air manifold and a hydrogen manifold on a first side and a second side of the stack, respectively, a jet array including a tubular body inserted in the air manifold or the hydrogen manifold and a plurality of orifices formed in the tubular body and arranged in a longitudinal direction of the tubular body, a pump or a valve for supplying air or hydrogen to the jet array; and a controller that operates the pump or the valve. | 12-25-2014 |
| 20140377674 | FUEL CELL AIR FLOW METHOD AND SYSTEM - A method of managing air flow for a fuel cell power system comprising, providing air expelled from a compressor and providing air expelled from a humidification device. The method further includes mixing the air expelled from the compressor with the air expelled from the humidification device upstream of a fuel cell and supplying the mixture to a cathode of the fuel cell. | 12-25-2014 |
| 20150010836 | EMERGENCY AIR PORT AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM HAVING THE SAME - An air cell system provided with emergency air port and an emergency air port is provided. In particular, an emergency port plate is provided between a suction block valve and a blower along air suction line of a fuel cell system or between a humidifier along an air suction line and a discharge block valve along an air discharge line and a wire is connected to the emergency port plate accordingly. Additionally, an operating assembly which enables the air suction line or the air discharge line to be in fluid communication with an external environment by pulling a wire to brake the emergency port plate when the suction block valve or the discharge block valve is not operating properly is also provided to provide a failsafe system for valve failure. | 01-08-2015 |
| 20150024295 | HUMIDIFICATION CONTROL METHOD FOR FUEL CELL AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A method of controlling humidification of a fuel cell includes the steps of measuring impedance of the fuel cell, and adjusting humidification quantity of the fuel cell based on an imaginary axis value Xi and a real axis value Xr on a complex number plane of the measured impedance after the measurement step. In the measurement step, impedance is measured based on supply of alternating current having one frequency of 10 Hz or less during power generation of the fuel cell. | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150050572 | WATER RECOVERY DEVICE - A water recovery device that allows a first gas to flow inside hollow fiber membranes and a second gas to flow outside the hollow fiber membranes, and that exchanges moisture between the first gas and the second gas. The water recovery device includes: a hollow fiber membrane bundle in which plural pieces of the hollow fiber membranes are bundled; a storage case that is open at both ends and houses the hollow fiber membrane bundle thereinside; a housing that includes an introduction hole and a discharge hole of the first gas and an introduction hole and a discharge hole of the second gas, and houses the storage case thereinside; a storage case seal groove which is formed on an outer peripheral surface of one end side of the storage case and to which a seal member is attached for sealing a gap between the outer peripheral surface of one end side of the storage case and an inner peripheral surface of the housing; and a housing seal groove which is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the housing and to which a seal member is attached for sealing a gap between the inner peripheral surface of the housing and an outer peripheral surface of the other end side of the storage case. | 02-19-2015 |
| 20150086886 | Fuel Cell Stack Arrangement with at least one Multi-Functional End Plate - A fuel cell stack arrangement includes a fuel cells arranged between a first and a second end plate. At least one of the end plates is designed as a channel end plate with at least one channel. The channel has a stack opening, which is opened in the direction of the stack, and a second opening. The stack opening and the second opening are connected to each other via a channel section and are arranged at a distance to each other in a top view looking down on the channel end plate. | 03-26-2015 |
| 20150093662 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A casing of a fuel cell system is divided into a fluid supply section, a module section, and an electrical equipment section by a first vertical partition plate and a second vertical partition plate. The first vertical partition plate extends from a front plate of the casing toward a back plate of the casing. The first vertical partition plate has a recess formed by bending a marginal end portion of the first vertical partition plate on the back plate side toward the module section at a predetermined angle. At least a raw fuel pipe of the fuel gas supply apparatus as a passage of a raw fuel is provided in the recess. | 04-02-2015 |
| 20150099200 | FREEZE PREPARATION FOR A FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A vehicle includes a fuel cell system, and a controller configured to receive a first signal indicative of a predicted ambient temperature at a specified location, and command the fuel cell system to operate at a reduced relative humidity when the predicted ambient temperature is below a threshold value. A method for controlling a fuel cell system includes receiving a first signal at a controller indicative of a predicted ambient temperature for a specified location, and operating the fuel cell system at a reduced relative humidity when the predicted ambient temperature is below a threshold value. A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, and a controller configured to, in response to receiving a predicted freezing condition, command the fuel cell stack to operate at a lower relative humidity level for a time period preceding a predicted time for system shut down. | 04-09-2015 |
| 20150099201 | FUEL CELL GAS INLET MANIFOLD DRAIN - An exemplary manifold assembly includes a gas inlet manifold configured to introduce a gas to a fuel cell. A gas outlet manifold is configured to direct gas away from the fuel cell. A drain channel connects the inlet manifold to the outlet manifold. The drain channel is configured to carry liquid from the gas inlet manifold to the gas outlet manifold. | 04-09-2015 |
| 20150104722 | FREEZE-TOLERANT VALVE - A valve for reducing the likelihood of ice-related blockage in a fuel cell and methods for starting a fuel cell system. The valve includes a valve plate and coupling plate that are cooperative with one another within a valve body such that flexural forces imparted to the valve plate from a pressurized fluid are transferred to localized contact surfaces between the valve plate and coupling plate. By concentrating these forces to such a localized area, improvements in the ability of the fluid to initiate and propagate a crack in built-up ice around the valve's seating region is improved. In this way, fuel cell starting in cold conditions—such as those associated with temperatures at or below the freezing point of water—is also improved. | 04-16-2015 |
| 20150118586 | METHOD OF OPERATING A FUEL CELL - The present invention relates to a method of determining the net water drag coefficient (r | 04-30-2015 |
| 20150125765 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A casing of a fuel cell system is divided into a fluid supply section, a module section, and an electrical equipment section. A back plate of the casing includes a cable outlet adjacent to a left side plate. A cable outlet panel of the cable outlet includes an attachment plate. A first outlet surface and a second outlet surface are formed integrally with the attachment plate, and surrounded by the attachment plate. The first outlet surface and the second outlet surface allow a power cable to be taken out of the casing, and have a V-shape in a plan view of the casing. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20150132673 | FUEL CELL ASSEMBLY - A fuel cell assembly comprising a plurality of fuel cell plates in a stack. The stack defines an air inlet face and/or an air outlet face; and two opposing engagement faces. The fuel cell assembly also comprises a detachable cover configured to releasably engage the two engagement faces in order to define an air chamber with the air inlet or outlet face. | 05-14-2015 |
| 20150295258 | ASCERTAINING FUEL CELL INLET HUMIDITY BY MEANS OF PRESSURE SENSORS, AND A MASS FLOW RATE-DEPENDENT CONTROL OF THE HUMIDIFIER BYPASS - The invention relates to a fuel cell arrangement ( | 10-15-2015 |
| 20150311546 | Composite Membrane and Moisture Adjustment Module Using Same - A composite membrane and moisture adjustment module using the same is disclosed. The composite membrane includes a moisture-permeable resin layer interposed between porous membranes that constitute a pair; and the mean thickness of the moisture-permeable resin layer is 5 μm or less. | 10-29-2015 |
| 20150325868 | Humidifier, such as for a Fuel Cell - A humidifier includes at least two pleated membranes which are disposed on top of each other. | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150325869 | Humidifier, for Example, for a Fuel Cell - A humidifier is provided with a housing and at least one water-permeable membrane arranged in the housing and provided with first and second opposed sides. A first gas stream having a first moisture contents is guided on the first opposed side and a second gas stream having a second moisture contents is guided on the second opposed side through the humidifier. The first moisture contents is higher than the second moisture contents. The at least one water-permeable membrane is folded and has folds. | 11-12-2015 |
| 20150349363 | GAS PURGE CONTROL FOR COOLANT IN A FUEL CELL - A fuel cell includes a water transport plate providing a water flow field. The water flow field permits a flow of water having an entrained gas. A vent is in fluid communication with the water flow field. At least some of the gas is released from fuel cell by opening a vent. In a disclosed example, a valve is opened in response to conditions indicative of an undesired amount of gas. For example, the valve is actuated in response to a signal from a water level sensor. In another example, the valve is opened based upon a schedule. | 12-03-2015 |
| 20150364779 | HUMIDIFIER FOR FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A humidifier for a fuel cell system is provided to improve humidification efficiency of a hollow fiber improving a gas flow inside a membrane module into which tube side air and moist air are introduced. The humidifier includes a membrane module in which hollow fibers are fixed inside a case in a bundle form and a first manifold and a second manifold each assembled at both ends of the case. An inside of the membrane module includes a tube side air supply tube which forms a gas flow in the same direction as the hollow fiber and one side of the tube side air supply tube includes at least one moist air pumping part configured to suction moist air flowing in an exterior of the tube side air supply tube by a flow velocity and a flow pressure of tube side air. | 12-17-2015 |
| 20150380749 | Humidifier, in Particular for a Fuel Cell - A humidifier has a stack unit having a plurality of water-vapor-permeable membranes which are arranged parallel one above the other and spaced apart from one another. The membranes are enclosed at the edges at least in sections by an enclosing part, wherein the enclosing parts of membranes lying one above the other are directly connected to one another in a flow-tight manner. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20150380750 | Humidifier, for Example for a Fuel Cell - A humidifier has a stack unit having a plurality of water-vapor-permeable membranes which are arranged parallel one above the other and spaced apart from one another. Two adjacent membranes are connected to one another via fixing elements, wherein a first fixing element acts on the top membrane from above and a second fixing element acts on the bottom membrane from below. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20150380751 | Humidifier, in particular for a fuel cell - A humidifier has a stack unit has a plurality of water-vapor-permeable membranes which are arranged placed above one another and spaced apart from one another. Two directly adjacent membranes are connected at a first edge region in a flow-tight manner, and at a second, angularly offset edge region, they are arranged between sealing strips which are placed one above the other and between which flow openings are formed. | 12-31-2015 |
| 20160036072 | AIR SUPPLY DEVICE USING COOLING WATER HEATER OF FUEL CELL VEHICLE - An air supply device using a cooling water heater of a fuel cell vehicle can effectively reduce cold starting time of the fuel cell vehicle and effectively remove moisture in a stack in cold shut down (CSD) of the fuel cell vehicle. In the air supply device, a bypass flow path is formed to be branched from a first air supply line connected between an air blower for supplying air to a fuel cell stack and a humidifier for humidifying the air supplied to the stack. The bypass flow path allows air exhausted from the air blower to pass through a cooling water heater by bypassing the humidifier and then to be supplied to the stack. | 02-04-2016 |
| 20160036075 | DEVICE FOR ADJUSTING HOLLOW FIBER MEMBRANE DENSITY FOR HUMIDIFICATION DEVICE OF FUEL CELL - Disclosed is a device for adjusting humidification gas of a membrane humidification device of a fuel cell. In particular, the device is adapted to induce changes in differential pressure and velocity of the wet air for each division module and to improve the humidification efficiency by sequentially mounting the division modules divided into various numbers to the interior of a housing of the membrane humidification device, thereby adjusting the density of the hollow fiber membrane filled in each division module. | 02-04-2016 |
| 20160036076 | METHOD OF OPERATING FUEL CELL SYSTEM - An operation method of a fuel cell system includes the step of determining whether or not performance recovery control of a fuel cell stack should be started. This operation method includes the step of, if it is determined that the performance recovery control should be started, supplying water content to a membrane electrode assembly by a water content adjusting device, while maintaining power generation voltage of the fuel cell stack at 0.3 V or lower in a state where an oxygen-containing gas is circulated through a closed circulation channel. | 02-04-2016 |
| 20160064755 | SELF-WETTING MEMBRANE ELECTRODE UNIT AND FUEL CELL HAVING SUCH A UNIT - A membrane electrode assembly and fuel cell having such assembly. The membrane electrode assembly has a polymer electrolyte membrane, two catalytic electrodes in contact with the polymer electrolyte membrane on both sides, namely an anode and a cathode, and two gas diffusion layers directly or indirectly adjoining the electrodes, namely an anode-side gas diffusion layer and a cathode-side gas diffusion layer. At least one of the gas diffusion layers may optionally feature a microporous layer facing the polymer electrolyte membrane. The sequence of layers is anode-side gas diffusion layer, anode-side microporous layer, anode, polymer electrolyte membrane, cathode, cathode-side microporous layer, cathode-side gas diffusion layer. A relative hydrophobicity of at least two of these components and/or a hydrophobicity gradient within at least one of these components, and a relative pore structure having pore size and/or porosity of at least two of these components and/or a gradient within the pore structure of at least one of these components, is designed in such a way that it promotes the transport of water via the polymer electrolyte membrane, preferably from the cathode side to the anode side. | 03-03-2016 |
| 20160072138 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system ( | 03-10-2016 |
| 20160079615 | WATER TRANSFER COMPOUND - The application relates to a water transfer compound, preferably for use for the humidification of process gases for fuel cells, comprising:—a water-permeable and essentially gas-impermeable water transfer layer as well as—at least one thermoplastic protection layer which is water- and gas-permeable at least in sections, where—the water transfer layer and the thermoplastic protection layer overlap each other at least in sections and comprise a first and a second overlapping area, where—the water transfer layer in the first overlapping area is accessible for humid gases through the thermoplastic protection layer and the water transfer compound is thermocompressed in the second overlapping area so that the water transfer layer in the second overlapping area is not accessible for humid gases through the compressed thermoplastic protection layer. | 03-17-2016 |
| 20160079619 | HUMIDIFICATION APPARATUS FOR FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A humidification apparatus for a fuel cell system is provided herein. A membrane humidifier includes humid air inlets, through which humid air discharged from a cathode of a fuel cell stack is introduced, and air outlets, through which air humidifying dry air in hollow fiber membranes is discharged, an air line connected from a cathode outlet of the fuel cell stack to the humid air inlets of the membrane humidifier to supply humid air. Exhaust lines are connected to the air outlets. A flow control valve is provided in the air line and controls the introduction of humid air into the humid air inlets, respectively. An exhaust valve is also provided to open and close flow paths of the exhaust lines. A controller controls the opening and closing of the flow control valve and the exhaust valve based on operating conditions of the fuel cell stack. | 03-17-2016 |
| 20160099478 | Methods relating to monitoring fuel cells - The invention relates to a method of determining water accumulation in and or removal from a fuel cell, the method comprising circulating fuel gas in the anode side of the fuel cell for producing electric energy in a fuel cell process, providing at least two purge pulses from the fuel circulation, analyzing the composition and/or volume of purged gas of said at least two gas purge pulses for determining the amount of water accumulation in and/or removal from the fuel cell. | 04-07-2016 |
| 20160141688 | Fuel Cell System and Dryness Degree Acquisition Method - A fuel cell system, comprising: a measurer that measures an impedance of the fuel cell; a controller that controls an operation state of the fuel cell; and an acquirer that acquires a dryness degree of the fuel cell from the measured impedance when the operation state is a first operation state, and acquires the dryness degree of the fuel cell as a wet state when the operation state is a second operation state in which a water balance is more than the first operation state. | 05-19-2016 |
| 20160141692 | IMPROVED FUEL CELL SYSTEMS AND METHODS - The present invention is concerned with improved fuel cell systems and methods. The present invention provides an intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (IT-SOFC) system comprising: (i) at least one fuel cell stack comprising at least one intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell, and having an anode inlet, a cathode inlet, an anode off-gas outlet, a cathode off-gas outlet, and defining separate flow paths for flow of anode inlet gas, cathode inlet gas, anode off-gas and cathode off-gas; and (ii) a steam reformer for reforming a hydrocarbon fuel to a reformate, and having a reformer inlet for anode inlet gas, a reformer outlet for exhausting anode inlet gas, and a reformer heat exchanger; and defining: (a) an anode inlet gas fluid flow path from a fuel source to said steam reformer to said at least one fuel cell stack anode inlet; (b) an anode off-gas fluid flow path from said at least one fuel cell stack anode off-gas outlet to a fuel cell system exhaust; (c) a cathode inlet gas fluid flow path from an at least one oxidant inlet to said reformer heat exchanger to said at least one fuel cell stack cathode inlet; and (d) a cathode off-gas fluid flow path from said at least one fuel cell stack cathode off-gas outlet to said fuel cell system exhaust; wherein said reformer heat exchanger is a parallel-flow heat exchanger in fluid flow communication with (i) said at least one oxidant inlet and said at least one fuel cell stack cathode inlet, and (ii) said fuel source and said at least one fuel cell stack anode inlet, and is arranged for exchanging heat between said cathode inlet gas and said anode inlet gas. | 05-19-2016 |
| 20160149233 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM WITH WASTE HEAT RECOVERY FOR PRODUCTION OF HIGH PRESSURE STEAM - A fuel cell system for generating electrical power and high level heat comprising at least one high temperature fuel cell stack having an anode side and a cathode side and adapted to generate electrical power, and a gas oxidizer/high level heat recovery assembly comprising an oxidizer adapted to oxidize one or more of exhaust output from the at least one high temperature fuel cell stack and a gas derived from the exhaust, and to generate high level heat, and a high level heat recovery system adapted to recover the high level heat generated in the oxidizer. | 05-26-2016 |
| 20160156046 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD OF FUEL CELL SYSTEM | 06-02-2016 |
| 20160172692 | DIFFUSION MEDIUM FOR USE IN FUEL CELL, FUEL CELL AND METHOD OF MAKING THE DIFFUSION MEDIUM | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160172698 | FUEL CELL MODULE | 06-16-2016 |
| 20160190611 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AS WELL AS VEHICLE HAVING SUCH A FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system including: a fuel cell stack; a cathode gas supply source including a cathode supply path for feeding cathode operating gas into the fuel cell stack and a cathode exhaust gas path for discharging cathode exhaust gas out of the fuel cell stack, and a fuel cell cooling system for cooling the fuel cell stack including a coolant path into which the fuel cell stack is integrated so as to transfer heat is provided. It is provided that the cathode gas supply source also includes a turbine arranged in the cathode exhaust gas path, and the coolant path of the fuel cell cooling system in the flow path of the cathode exhaust gas downstream from the turbine is in heat-transferring contact with the cathode exhaust gas path. This achieves a cooling of the coolant by the cathode exhaust gas and a heating of the cathode exhaust gas by the coolant. | 06-30-2016 |
| 20160190613 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING OPERATION OF FUEL CELL - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell including an electrolyte membrane, a sensor configured to measure a temperature of the fuel cell, and a controller. The controller is configured to cause the fuel cell to perform a wet operation to increase a water balance at a cathode of the fuel cell to a value higher than a water balance at the cathode during a normal operation of the fuel cell, when the temperature of the fuel cell measured by the sensor is maintained at a first threshold temperature or higher for a prescribed period of time or longer and then the temperature of the fuel cell decreases to below a second threshold temperature that is equal to or lower than the first threshold temperature. | 06-30-2016 |
