Disclosed is a cooling module for use in a fuel cell system, the module includes a tank configured to receive a coolant therein, a coolant, a pump in fluid communication with the coolant in the tank and the fuel cell system, the pump being configured to transport the coolant to the fuel cell system, a heating element within the coolant in the tank, the heating element configured to heat the coolant, and at least one sensor in signal communication with a controller and in fluid communication with the tank. The sensor is configured to detect a change corresponding to the presence or absence of sufficient liquid coolant to initiate said pump, and the controller processes sensor data and is configured to actuate the pump.

A system and method for generating vibrations in a fuel cell system include a vibration device which can be arranged on the fuel cell system or is formed by at least one component of the fuel cell system, for generating excitation vibrations which can be transmitted to the component. An electronic actuating system includes a controller and memory for actuating the vibration device, which may include a coolant pump or a compressor, at a natural frequency of a fuel system component for de-icing. At temperatures below 0° C., the electronic actuating system is adapted to actuate the vibration device during a switch-on process and/or a switch-off process of the fuel cell system taking into consideration at least one natural frequency of the component. Embodiments including actuating a compressor, cooling pump, and/or valve to transmit vibrations to a component to be de-iced at a natural frequency of the component.

A cold start control method for a fuel cell is provided. The method includes determining whether a cold start condition upon start on is satisfied and estimating thawing energy required to thaw frozen moisture inside a fuel cell stack when the cold start condition has been satisfied. A thawing control SOC of a high-voltage battery is calculated based on the estimated thawing energy. The cooling water inside a cooling water line for cooling the fuel cell stack is heated by using a heater having received power from the high-voltage battery when the current SOC of the high-voltage battery is equal to or less than a thawing control SOC.

Disclosed herein are aspects of fuel cell systems (10) and methods having a fuel cell assembly (20); a coolant module (30) configured to provide coolant to the fuel cell assembly, the coolant module comprising a coolant storage (32) tank fluidly connected to the fuel cell assembly (20) and a coolant tank heater comprising one or more catalytic heating elements (55) arranged proximate to the coolant storage tank (32) to heat the coolant, wherein the one or more catalytic heating elements (55) includes a catalyst material that combusts hydrogen and ignites spontaneously.

A cold start control method and system for fuel cell vehicles determines when the fuel cell vehicle is started, whether the fuel cell vehicle enters a cold start mode. An estimated time estimated to be required until the stopped vehicle coolant temperature, which is measured in a state in which the fuel cell vehicle is stopped before being started, reaches a reference temperature is derived. The required time required from a point in time at which the stopped vehicle coolant temperature is measured to a point in time at which the fuel cell vehicle enters the cold start mode is derived. A target heating value is corrected according to a ration between the estimated time and the required time to derive a final target heating value. The heating value of the fuel cell stack is caused to reach the final target heating value.

A protection system for a fuel cell is provided that has two different modes of operation. The protection system includes a fuel cell, a cooling system for the fuel cell that controls the temperature of the fuel cell responsive to a controller. The controller is operable in a first mode of operation when a time T for the next start-up is not known and a second mode of operation when the time T for the next start-up is known. In the first mode, a time T.sub.F is the time an estimated future ambient temperature is estimated to fall to near freezing wherein at T.sub.F the cooling system purges the fuel cell. In the second mode, at T.sub.F the cooling system turns on without starting the fuel cell. The controller turns of the cooling system when the fuel cell stack is warmed to a nominal temperature.

A fuel cell electric vehicle includes a muffler deicing agent injection system composed of a deicing agent injector injecting a deicing agent, which is pumped by a deicing agent injection pump, from a deicing agent tank and is supplied to a deicing agent pipe. The muffler deicing agent injection system performs a muffler deicing agent injection logic to inject the deicing agent through operations of the deicing agent injection pump and the deicing agent injector by a controller under an ambient temperature satisfaction condition and a deicing agent injection satisfaction condition.

A fuel cell engine generates electricity for electric vehicles or for industrial uses. The evaporatively cooled fuel cell engine incorporates de-ionized water-cooling process, in which de-ionized water flowing through the cooling subsystem becomes ionized with carbon dioxide. The water scrubber subsystem of the invention uses differences in partial pressures across a thin ion-exchange membrane to draw the contaminating ions out of the flow or stream of the circulating water. Because the partial pressures of carbon dioxide is different on either side of the membrane, the carbon dioxide ions move from the side of the circulating water to the anode exhaust purge side through the ion-exchange membrane in order to achieve equilibrium. This results in reducing the carbon dioxide ions (and any other gaseous ions) in the flow or stream of circulating water before the water enters the fuel cell stack. This results in greater fuel cell performance and a longer lasting de-ionizing filter.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell in which cells are stacked, a voltage sensor that detects a voltage in unit of one or more of the cells, a control unit that determines an operating point of the fuel cell and causes the fuel cell to operate. The control unit causes the fuel cell to operate at a low efficiency operating point having a lower efficiency than an efficiency of a reference operating point in a warm-up operation. In the warm-up operation, the control unit calculates a total number of the cells in which the voltage detected by the voltage sensor is equal to or less than a predetermined first reference voltage and calculates an exhaust hydrogen concentration based on the total number or the cells.

A bipolar plate is provided including an outlet port and an inlet port with at least one flow field having a plurality of ducts connecting the inlet port to the outlet port, and with at least one bypass duct at a side of the at least one flow field. A flow resistance in the at least one bypass duct is determined by the design of the at least one bypass duct. A blocking element does not project into a cross section of the at least one bypass duct.