A bipolar plate for a fuel cell having two profiled separator plates with channels for reaction gases and coolant, wherein the channels for a reaction gas or both reaction gases have a smaller width in an inlet region of the active region than in the remaining sub-region of the active region, wherein the width thereof continuously increases from the beginning to the end of the inlet region. Supports between the channels have a greater width than in the remaining sub-region of the active region, wherein the sum of the width of the channels and the width of the supports is constant, and the width of the channels and the supports is constant in the entire remaining sub-region.

Disclosed are methods and devices for controlling freezing of a cooling module for use in a fuel cell system. The cooling module includes a first chamber configured to receive a first material, a second chamber configured to receive a second material, and a first insulating layer disposed between the first chamber and the second chamber. The second chamber surrounds, at least partly, the first chamber. As ambient temperature decreases, the second material begins freezing before the first material begins freezing.

A system includes a fuel cell stack that receives a fluid, an actuator to increase or decrease a fluid temperature of the fluid, a pipe to facilitate flow of the fluid, and a memory designed to store a model of the fuel cell circuit. The system also includes an ECU that calculates mass flow values of the fluid through the fuel cell stack or the pipe based on a previously-determined mass flow value and the model of the fuel cell circuit. The ECU also calculates a plurality of pressure values corresponding to the fuel cell stack or the pipe based on the plurality of mass flow values and the model, controls the actuator position of the actuator to increase or decrease the fluid temperature based on at least one of the plurality of mass flow values and at least one of the plurality of pressure values.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, an oxidant gas supply and discharge system, a coolant circulation system, a compressor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, and a control unit. When a measured atmospheric pressure becomes lower than a predetermined reference atmospheric pressure, the control unit executes temperature and pressure lowering control for controlling the coolant circulation system to lower the temperature of the fuel cell while controlling a pressure-regulating valve to lower a delivery pressure of the compressor.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack, hydrogen gas system auxiliary devices disposed outside the fuel cell stack, and air system auxiliary devices disposed adjacent to the hydrogen gas system auxiliary devices. The hydrogen gas system auxiliary devices include injectors, upstream side auxiliary devices provided on the upstream side of the injectors in the flow direction of hydrogen gas, and downstream side auxiliary devices provided on the downstream side of the injectors in the flow direction of the hydrogen gas. The upstream side auxiliary devices are disposed at positions farther away from the air system auxiliary devices than the downstream side auxiliary devices.

An evaporative cooling type fuel cell system and a cooling control method for the same are provided. The fuel cell system includes a stack that generates electric power by reacting hydrogen as fuel with air as an oxidant. The method includes adjusting an operation pressure of the stack based on a current operation temperature of the stack and adjusting the amount of water supplied to the stack from a water reservoir based on the current operation temperature. The water is supplied to a cathode of the stack. Thus, a compact-simplified fuel cell system is provided, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and weight.

A four-fluid bipolar plate for a fuel cell includes a nonporous sub-plate and a porous sub-plate. The nonporous sub-plate includes a water management side, an opposing reactant side, and an internal coolant passage therebetween. The water management side includes a recessed region over an area approximately equal to the active area, and the porous sub-plate is nested and sealed in the recessed region. The porous sub-plate includes a reactant side and an opposing water management side. The water management side is in fluid communication with the water management side of the nonporous sub-plate.

An air cleaner is provided in a cathode system device of a fuel cell system that is mounted in a fuel cell vehicle. The air cleaner comprises a casing having an internal space through which air flows, and an air filter accommodated in the internal space. The air filter has a flat plate shape, and is arranged on an outer side of a fuel cell stack in a horizontal direction, and in a state of being inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.

A linear time varying model predictive control (LTV-MPC) framework is developed for degradation-conscious control of automotive polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems. A reduced-order nonlinear model of the entire system is derived first. This nonlinear model is then successively linearized about the current operating point to obtain a linear model. The linear model is utilized to formulate the control problem using a rate-based MPC formulation. The controller objective is to ensure offset-free tracking of the power demand, while maximizing the overall system efficiency and enhancing its durability. To this end, the fuel consumption and the power loss due to auxiliary equipment are minimized. Moreover, the internal states of the fuel cell stack are constrained to avoid harmful conditions that are known stressors of the fuel cell components.

A system for heating or cooling a fuel cell circuit of a vehicle includes a fuel cell stack, a temperature sensor to detect a fluid temperature of the fluid, a pump to pump the fluid through the fuel cell circuit, and an ECU. The ECU is designed to determine a temperature control signal based on the fluid temperature of the fluid. The ECU is also designed to calculate a desired mass flow rate of the fluid through the fuel cell stack based on the temperature control signal. The ECU is also designed to calculate a desired pump speed of the pump based on the desired mass flow rate of the fluid through the fuel cell stack. The ECU is also designed to control the pump to pump the fluid at the desired pump speed to increase or decrease the fluid temperature of the fluid.