A fuel cell system includes a control unit configured to perform air-conditioning-system preparation control, wherein, under the air-conditioning-system preparation control, when an air conditioning system is not requested to heat air, it is determined whether or not a coolant within a coolant circulation passage is capable of being supplied to an air conditioning circuit, when the coolant within the coolant circulation passage is not capable of being supplied to the air conditioning circuit, the heater is operated to maintain a first predetermined temperature or higher of the coolant within the air conditioning circuit, and when the coolant within the coolant circulation passage is capable of being supplied to the air conditioning circuit, the air-conditioning water pump is operated to draw the coolant from the coolant circulation passage into the air conditioning circuit and to maintain the first predetermined temperature or higher of the coolant within the air conditioning circuit.

A control apparatus includes a control unit which instructs a constant temperature mode to the fuel cell unit as one of operation modes, the constant temperature mode being a mode for performing an control to cover power consumption of the auxiliaries by power supplied from the outside and an control to keep a temperature of the power generation unit constant within a prescribed temperature range. In the constant temperature mode, power output from the power generation unit is at least smaller than the power consumption of the auxiliaries.

Various embodiments relate to combined heat and power (CHP) systems. A CHP system can include a turbine system, a turbocharger system, and a refrigeration system. The refrigeration system can receive combustion products from the turbine system and compressed air from the turbocharger system. The refrigeration system can cool the combustion products and the compressed air to generate a cooled combustion product mixture that is provided to the turbine system. The turbine system can further comprise a fuel cell. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.

A fuel cell device is improved for operating conditions during a partial load operation. The fuel cell device comprises a cell stack formed by electrically connecting fuel cells for generating power by fuel gas and oxygen-containing gas; a fuel gas supply unit for supplying the fuel gas to the fuel cells; and a power adjustment unit for adjusting the amount of current that is supplied to an external load and a controller for controlling the fuel gas supply unit and the power adjustment unit. The controller adjusts, during the partial load operation of the fuel cell device and when the fuel gas supplied to the cell stack is at a low flow rate. The relationship between a fuel utilization rate of the cell stack and the amount of power generated by the cell stack can be nonlinear.

A hybrid vehicle comprising a liquefied light hydrocarbon or hydrogen (LLH) fuel system is disclosed. The fuel system comprises an insulated fuel tank having a buffer space containing vaporized fuel, an orifice plate and a fuel coil conveying a first fuel vapor to a buffer tank through a first solenoid valve; a fuel line conveying a second fuel vapor through a second solenoid valve to the buffer tank and a pressure regulator, wherein an outlet to the buffer tank connects to the pressure regulator and wherein an outlet of the pressure regulator is adapted to connect to a fuel inlet to an energy conversion device selected from the group of fuel cells, Stirling engines and internal combustion engines. Methods of using the hybrid vehicle are also disclosed.

A liquefied light hydrocarbon (LLH) fuel system for a hybrid electric vehicle is disclosed. The fuel system uses a stable supply of vaporized (LLH) fuel to meet the highly variable power demand from the vehicle's power train by 1) adjusting the evaporation rate inside an insulated fuel tank through a heat delivery system, 2) managing the amount of compressed fuel vapor stored inside a buffer tank and 3) using an electric energy storage means to provide for rapid fluctuations in demand. In an embodiment the apparatus comprises an insulated fuel tank, a buffer tank, a heat delivery system, an energy conversion means to convert the vaporized fuel into electricity and an electric energy storage means that can provide for rapid variations of power demand from the vehicle. Methods of using the fuel system under various operational scenarios are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a flame-assisted fuel cell (FFC) and, more particularly, to the integration of a FFC in a fuel fired furnace or boiler to enable the generation of both electricity and heat from the fuel's chemical energy, transforming the furnace/boiler into a Combined Heating and Power (CHP) system.

A fuel cell device is improved for operating conditions during a partial load operation. The fuel cell device comprises a cell stack formed by electrically connecting fuel cells for generating power by fuel gas and oxygen-containing gas; a fuel gas supply unit for supplying the fuel gas to the fuel cells; and a power adjustment unit for adjusting the amount of current that is supplied to an external load and a controller for controlling the fuel gas supply unit and the power adjustment unit. The controller adjusts, during the partial load operation of the fuel cell device and when the fuel gas supplied to the cell stack is at low flow rate. The a relationship between a fuel utilization rate of the cell stack and the amount of power generated by the cell stack can be nonlinear.

A controller for a power generation system, wherein the power generation system comprises: a power outlet, a fuel cell that is configured to selectively provide power for the power outlet; a battery that is configured to selectively provide power for the power outlet; and an inverter for converting a DC voltage that is provided by the fuel cell into an inverter-AC-voltage for providing to the power outlet. The controller is configured to: receive a system-load-signal that represents the amount of power that is required by an external load that is connected to the power outlet; receive one or more fuel-cell-parameters that represent one or more operating parameters of the fuel cell; and provide a fuel-cell-power-control-signal based on the system-load-signal and the one or more fuel-cell-parameters, wherein the fuel-cell-power-control-signal is for setting a control-parameter of the fuel cell and/or is for setting a control parameter of the inverter.

A system has a fuel cell. The fuel cell has a source of hydrogen and a source of oxygen containing gas. The hydrogen is connected for passage across the anode. The source of oxygen containing gas is connected to pass across a cathode. The fuel cell produces electricity. A catalytic oxidizer oxidizes hydrogen within the system. A cooling water circuit passes across cooling water passages in the fuel cell and cools the cathode. Cooling water downstream of the cooling water passages passes across the catalytic oxidizer to heat the catalytic oxidizer. An enclosed vehicle is also disclosed.