A power supply 100 is described. The power supply 100 has a first electrical outlet 110 and comprises: optionally a set of hydrogen storage devices 200, including a first hydrogen storage device 200A, a set of heaters 300, including a first heater 300A, a first releasable fluid inlet coupling 410 and/or a first releasable fluid outlet coupling 510; wherein the first hydrogen storage device 200A comprises: a pressure vessel 230A, having a first fluid inlet 210A and a first fluid outlet 220A, comprising therein a thermally conducting network 240A optionally thermally coupled to the first heater 300A, wherein the pressure vessel 230A is arranged to receive therein a hydrogen storage material 250A in thermal contact, at least in part, with the thermally conducting network 240A, wherein the first fluid inlet 210A and/or the first fluid outlet 220A are in fluid communication with the first releasable fluid inlet coupling 410 and/or the first releasable fluid outlet coupling 510, respectively; and preferably, wherein the thermally conducting network 240A has lattice geometry and/or a fractal geometry in two and/or three dimensions.

A fuel cell-battery system includes: a battery module including a battery that stores electric power and a coolant line through which coolant circulates to cool the battery; a fuel cell module including a hydrogen tank that stores hydrogen, a fuel cell that produces the electric power using the hydrogen, and a hydrogen line that connects the hydrogen tank and the fuel cell to deliver the hydrogen from the hydrogen tank to the fuel cell; and a heat exchange module through which the coolant line and the hydrogen line pass such that the coolant is cooled by heat exchange with the hydrogen and the hydrogen is heated by heat exchange with the coolant.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell and a fuel cell controller. The fuel cell controller is configured to control a cooler based on a command from a host controller, the cooler being configured to cool the fuel cell. When a predetermined condition regarding the fuel cell is satisfied, the fuel cell controller controls the cooler according to a procedure predetermined in the fuel cell controller, regardless of the command from the host controller.

A fuel cell power system and method for identifying and compensating for variations identified in a fuel composition of a fuel cell power system, comprising the fuel cell system components selected from the group consisting of a catalytic oxidizer, a reformer, an exhaust, a fuel cell stack or system, or a combination thereof; and a control device configured to control the fuel cell system components, wherein the control device comprises a computer algorithm to indirectly correlate measurements of the fuel cell system components to a difference in the fuel composition.

This invention pertains to methods for controlling thermal aspects during operation of a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system, including controlling target cathode and anode inlet stream temperatures and differential temperatures defined by the anode and cathode inlet and outlet streams. In one aspect, thermal management is achieved by controlling a combustion stream temperature and by employing one heat exchanger having two cold side pathways. In another aspect, thermal management is achieved by controlling a temperature of a combustion stream distributed through a cathode feed heat exchanger and an anode feed heat exchanger, optionally with bypassing a portion of the cathode air stream around the cathode feed heat exchanger. In another aspect, thermal management is achieved by employing a cathode feed heat exchanger to heat a cathode air stream and by employing an equalizer heat exchanger to equilibrate temperatures of the resulting heated cathode air stream and an anode fuel stream.

An integrated fuel cell system includes fuel cells, fuel heat exchangers, air heat exchangers, and tail gas oxidizers. The tail gas oxidizers oxidize a (second) portion of fuel received from the fuel cells with effluent that is output from the fuel cells. Fuel cell stacks are fluidly coupled with the fuel heat exchangers and the tail gas oxidizers such that the fuel that is output from the fuel cells is split into a first portion that is directed back into the fuel heat exchangers and a second portion that is directed into the tail gas oxidizers.

A heat insulation structure for a high-temperature reaction room includes a heat insulating body surrounding the reaction room. The heat insulating body contains a binder component including a metal element and is arranged so as to face an insulating film disposed on a cell stack. Transfer of metal ions originating in the metal element from the heat insulating body toward the insulating film is suppressed by a metal ion transfer suppression means.

A fuel cell system includes first and second fuel cells each generating electric power using fuel gas and oxidant gas, first and second fuel gas supply devices supplying the fuel gas, first and second circulation paths circulating the discharged fuel gas to the first and second fuel cells, a communication path communicated with the first and second circulation paths, an opening/closing device causing the first and second circulation path to be communicated or to be disconnected by opening/closing the communication path, and a controller configured to determine whether there is a possibility of flooding, and when determining that there is the possibility of flooding, suspend power generation of one of the first and second fuel cells while maintaining supply of the fuel gas, and cause the opening/closing device to make the first and second circulation paths be communicated with each other.

An electric power supply system 100 comprises a battery 10 that generates heat by discharging an electric power, and a fuel cell system 20 that generates the electric power by fuel cells 21. The electric power supply system 100 supplies power to an electric load. The electric power supply system 100 determines whether or not a temperature of the battery 10 is equal to or less than a predetermined temperature, and when the temperature of the battery is equal to or less than the predetermined temperature, the electric power supply system 100 discharges the battery 10 to the fuel cell system 20.

A battery and a load device are connected to a fuel cell stack. Electric power is supplied from the battery to fuel cell auxiliary equipment. A controller of a fuel cell system has stored therein a desired output of the fuel cell stack. The controller predicts auxiliary equipment power consumption, which is the amount of electric power that is consumed by the fuel cell auxiliary equipment for operation of the fuel cell stack, and determines estimated input and output power of the battery. The controller determines a requested output, which is an output requested for the fuel cell stack, based on the predicted auxiliary equipment power consumption and the estimated input and output power. The controller determines an operating point of the fuel cell stack based on the desired output. The load device controls its operation so that the difference between the requested output and the desired output becomes zero.