A method of controlling hydrogen concentration of a fuel cell includes calculating hydrogen or nitrogen concentration of gas stored in a fuel tank; estimating hydrogen or nitrogen concentration at an anode of the fuel cell based on the calculated hydrogen or nitrogen concentration of the gas; and controlling a hydrogen supply unit based on the estimated hydrogen or nitrogen concentration at the anode such that the hydrogen or nitrogen concentration at the anode follows desired hydrogen concentration or desired nitrogen concentration.

A PEM fuel or electrolysis cell with an extended lifetime, improved performance and uniform and stable operation is disclosed wherein a membrane electrode assembly is provided with a gradient of one or more properties in combination with a modification of one or more control parameters of the cell during its operation.

Methods, systems, and device for real-time two-dimensional modeling of a fuel cell stack of a vehicle. The method includes obtaining a dataset having multiple data points. A data point of the multiple data points is associated with one set of conditions and a homotopic operating state. The method includes generating a first matrix that has multiple sets of conditions from the plurality of data points. The method includes generating a second matrix of multiple operating states from the multiple data points. Each operating state is associated with at least one of the multiple sets of conditions. The method includes generating an interpolation of homotopic operation states (IHOS) model based on the first matrix and the second matrix. The IHOS model has multiple reference rows of the sets of conditions associated with a homotopic operating state. The method includes rendering, on a display, the IHOS model.

Disclosed is a heat exchange apparatus for cooling water of a fuel cell, the heat exchange apparatus including a body, through which a cooling water pipe, through which cooling water that is to be supplied to a fuel cell stack flows, passes, and a heat accumulator provided in the interior of the body and filled with a PCM heat accumulation material that is to exchange heat with the cooling water. The body includes a medium space provided between the cooling water pipe and the heat accumulator and filled with a medium material. The PCM heat accumulation material exchanges heat with the cooling water by the medium material.

Provided is a fuel cell system including: a pressure measurement unit that acquires a measured pressure value of an anode gas at an anode gas inlet or an anode gas outlet of a fuel cell; and a water amount estimation unit. The water amount estimation unit obtains, from a plurality of circumstantial parameters including an open time of an injector provided in the anode gas supply passage and the measured pressure value measured before the injector is opened, an assumed pressure rise that is assumed based on the water amount being equal to the water amount threshold value. When a measured pressure rise of the measured pressure value resulting from opening the injector is larger than the assumed pressure rise, the water amount estimation unit estimates that the water amount is larger than the water amount threshold value.

A device intended to generate electricity includes a planar fuel cell having: cells each provided with an anode and a cathode associated with a membrane, and a first face and a second face opposite to the first face, the first face being arranged on the side with the anodes of the fuel cell and the second face being arranged on the side with the cathodes of the fuel cell. Furthermore, this device includes a system configured to generate a first air flow intended to cooperate thermally with the first face, and configured to generate a second air flow intended to cooperate with the second face to ensure the supply of oxidizer to the cathodes of the fuel cell.

In an AMFC, in the formation of a CCM, the anode catalyst layer is selectively cross-linked while the cathode catalyst layer is not cross-linked. This has been found to provide structural stabilization of the CCM without loss of initial power value for a CCM without cross-linking.

A hydrogen supply method for a fuel cell system, for supplying hydrogen according to a state of the fuel cell system when the fuel cell system is started, includes steps of (a) measuring a stop time period which elapses until the fuel cell system is started after the fuel cell system is stopped, (b) determining whether a reaction time period consumed to complete a reaction of residual hydrogen and residual oxygen residing in a fuel cell stack since the fuel system is stopped is not more than the stop time period, and (c) when it is determined in the step (b) that the stop time period is less than the reaction time period, closing a purge valve that is able to discharge gases accommodated in an anode from the anode and supplying at the same time hydrogen to the anode such that an internal pressure of the anode becomes a predetermined first target pressure.

A system and method of controlling water imbalance in an electrochemical cell is provided. The method includes determining a present water imbalance in the electrochemical cell by summing a water.sub.in and a water.sub.created less a water.sub.out. Water.sub.in represents an amount of water introduced into the electrochemical cell by an oxidant feed gas; water.sub.created represents an amount of water created by the electrochemical cell from the electrochemical reaction; and water.sub.out represents an amount of water discharged from the electrochemical cell by an oxidant exhaust gas. The method includes tracking a cumulative water imbalance during operation of the electrochemical cell by repeatedly determining the present water imbalance and continuing to sum the results during operation. And, the method also includes adjusting a flow rate of the oxidant feed gas entering the electrochemical cell based on the cumulative water imbalance.

The present invention relates to a fuel cell system and a control method therefor. An aspect of the present invention provides a fuel cell system comprising: a fuel cell stack; a memory unit in which a plurality of current-voltage curves, which are determined according to operation conditions of the fuel cell stack, are stored; a measurement unit for detecting an operation condition of the fuel cell stack; and a control unit for calling a current-voltage curve which satisfies the operation condition of the fuel cell stack, detected by the measurement unit, and predicting the performance of the fuel cell stack according to the called current-voltage curve.