A method of detecting degradation of a membrane electrode assembly in a fuel cell system is provided. In the method, it is possible to detect degradation (cross leakage) of a fuel cell. In the state where variation of a load is suppressed, variation of the gas pressure where a predetermined amount of the fuel gas is supplied from a fuel tank to a fuel cell is measured by a pressure sensor provided in a fuel gas circulation channel extending from the fuel gas outlet to the fuel gas inlet.

A fuel cell cooling system and a control method are provided. The fuel cell cooling system includes a fuel cell module having a fuel cell stack and a first cooling water line through which primary cooling water undergoing heat exchange with the fuel cell stack to adjust a temperature of the fuel cell stack circulates. A cooling module includes a second cooling water line through which secondary cooling water circulates and a cooling tower is configured to adjust a temperature of the secondary cooling water. A heat exchanger is connected between the first cooling water line of the fuel cell module and the second cooling water line of the cooling module for heat exchange. A controller configured to operate the fuel cell module and the cooling module.

A first outer peripheral seal in a first metal separator of a fuel cell stack includes a first peripheral metal bead. A first bypass stopper is provided in a space between a first end ridge and a first outer peripheral seal. The first bypass stopper prevents bypassing of an oxygen-containing gas by blocking part of the space. A gap is provided between the first bypass stopper and the first metal bead of a first outer peripheral seal. The gap separates the first bypass stopper from the first metal bead.

The electric power supply device supplies electric power to a work machine. The electric power supply device includes a fuel cell and a utility connecting section for transferring utility to be utilized for an operation of a fuel cell between the work machine and the electric power supply device. A control device for controlling the electric power supply device for supplying electric power to the work machine includes a rated capability obtaining section for obtaining information indicating a rated value of a capability with which the work machine supplies the utility to the fuel cell in response to the electric power supply device being mounted in the work machine, or the electric power supply device being able to utilize the utility, and an operating condition determining section for determining an operating condition of the electric power supply device based on the rated value.

A control device for controlling a power supply device that supplies power to a work machine includes a load amount acquisition unit configured to acquire load information indicating a load amount of the work machine during a work period of the work machine, and an output condition determination unit configured to determine an output rate of a fuel cell based on the load amount indicated by the load information during the work period. The power supply device includes the fuel cell. The work period may be a period starting when information indicating start of work of the work machine is received and ending when information indicating end of the work of the work machine is received.

A method of cleaning power cells in an array of power cells, comprising coupling at least one first power cell to second power cells in an array of power cells and causing the second power cells to drive the at least one first power cell with a voltage to clean catalyst on the at least one first power cell.

Power is generated efficiently using fuel. A power generation unit includes a power generation module that generates power using fuel, a supply unit that supplies fuel to the power generation module, a power converter that converts DC power supplied by the power generation module into AC power, and a controller that controls the supply unit and the power converter. The controller controls the supply unit or the power converter so that the output power supplied to a load with fluctuating power consumption becomes greater than the power consumption of the load by a predetermined margin.

Disclosed is a control system for a fuel cell system that includes at least two or more fuel cell groups which each have at least one fuel cell connected in parallel. The fuel cell control system comprises: a unit level controller configured to control an output of an individual fuel cell; a group level controller configured to determine the output distribution of the individual fuel cells within the fuel cell group based on the performance decrease rates of the individual fuel cells within the fuel cell group; and a system level controller configured to determine the total output of the fuel cell system according to the power demand for the grid and determine the output distribution for each of the fuel cell groups in correspondence to the total output.

A system for capturing carbon dioxide in flue gas includes a fuel cell assembly including at least one fuel cell including a cathode portion configured to receive, as cathode inlet gas, the flue gas generated by the flue gas generating device or a derivative thereof, and to output cathode exhaust gas and an anode portion configure to receive an anode inlet gas and to output anode exhaust gas, a fuel cell assembly voltage monitor configured to measure a voltage across the fuel cell assembly, and a controller configured to receive the measured voltage across the fuel cell assembly from the fuel cell assembly voltage monitor, determine an estimated carbon dioxide utilization of the fuel cell assembly based on the measured voltage across the fuel cell assembly, and reduce the carbon dioxide utilization of the fuel cell assembly when the determined estimated carbon dioxide utilization is above a predetermined threshold utilization.

A method for controlling a fuel cell system is provided. The method includes upon start of a fuel cell stack, obtaining a flow rate of air supplied into a cathode after an air regulator for regulating the air supplied into the cathode is opened. A sealing state of the fuel cell stack is then determined based on the obtained flow rate of the air.