An electrochemical reactor is provided, including an electrical connector including an end part occupying a position referred to as engaged in a stack of electrochemical cells, including: an electrical contact portion; and a blocking portion, including: either a blocking through-orifice receiving by insertion an abutment element of an electrochemical cell, or a blocking element introduced by insertion into an abutting through-orifice of the electrochemical cell, the insertion, when the end part occupies the engaged position, leading to the formation of an abutment opposing the retraction of the end part out of the engaged position.

A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell, a power storage, a single measuring unit, and a switcher. The power storage is configured to store electric power. The single measuring unit is configured to perform a measurement of an impedance of each of the fuel cell and the power storage. The switcher is configured to set each of a first coupling state between the single measuring unit and the fuel cell and a second coupling state between the single measuring unit and the power storage. The switcher is configured to set the first coupling state and the second coupling state in response to a state of the fuel cell system upon the measurement of the impedance by the single measuring unit. The state of the fuel cell system includes whether electric power is outputted from the fuel cell and whether the power storage is discharged or charged.

A control device of a fuel cell system includes an electric conductivity comparing unit for comparing the electric conductivity of the water inside the ion exchanger which is measured by the electric conductivity measuring unit with a predetermined electric conductivity range, and an ion exchange environment determining unit for arbitrarily determining whether or not air has been mixed into an ion exchanger and whether or not the ion exchange efficiency of the ion exchanger has been degraded, based on a comparison result by the electric conductivity comparing unit.

The disclosed embodiments relate to the design of a fuel cell system which is capable of both providing power to and receiving power from a rechargeable battery in a portable computing device. This eliminates the need for a bulky and heavy battery within the fuel cell system, which can significantly reduce the size, weight and cost of the fuel cell system. This fuel cell system includes a fuel cell stack which converts fuel into electrical power. It also includes a controller which controls operation of the fuel cell system. The fuel cell system additionally includes a power link that transfers electrical power between the fuel cell system and the portable computing device, and a communication link that provides communication between the portable computing device and the controller for the fuel cell system. The controller can regulate both the electrical power provided by the fuel cell system to the portable computing device and the electrical power provided by the rechargeable battery to the fuel cell system.

A microbial fuel cell includes a first conductive electrode that hosts a plurality of microbes that break down organic matter to perform oxidation and release electrons. The first conductive electrode is an anode. The microbial fuel cell also includes a second conductive electrode operatively coupled to the first conductive electrode. The second conductive electrode is a cathode that is vertically oriented in soil that includes the organic matter. Additionally, at least a portion of the cathode is contact with air.

A method for operating a fuel cell power plant is provided to deliver power and/or receive power from a load. The fuel cell power plant includes an energy storage system connected in parallel with a fuel cell system. The method for operating includes the steps of calculating and actively proportioning a current split between the fuel cell system and the energy storage system, and controlling the proportioning using fuel cell system air flow. In one embodiment, set point changes in the fuel cell system air flow are operationally independent from a fuel cell water management system that removes product water, humidifies inlet reactant gas, and/or cools the fuel cell stack. In another embodiment, the step of calculating the current split proportion includes the selection of points on a family of V/I curves within a range from 40% fuel cell air utilization to 99% fuel cell air utilization.

A fuel cell wakeup and conditioning system for a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) initiate a wakeup timer for periodically waking up a fuel cell power system (FCPS) to perform at least one of thermal and humidity conditioning, based on the wakeup timer, a state of charge (SOC) of a high voltage battery system of the FCEV, and an ambient temperature, determine whether to perform (i) only thermal conditioning of the FCPS or (ii) both thermal and humidity conditioning of the FCPS and, based on the determination, control only a thermal conditioning system to perform thermal conditioning of the FCPS or (ii) both the thermal conditioning system and a humidity conditioning system to perform thermal and humidity conditioning of the FCPS.