| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control the operation of a fuel cell by detecting a wet condition without providing each cell of a fuel-cell stack with a reference electrode. SOLUTION: A hydrogen-containing gas and air humidified by a humidifier 3 are supplied to the fuel-cell stack 4 from the right side in the figure. A cooling system 12 is comprised of a cooling water pump 7 for circulating cooling water, a radiator for radiating the heat of the cooling water to the outside or a pair 8 of a radiator and radiator fan, a four-way valve 9 for reversing the direction of the cooling water flowing in the stack 4, and a thermometer 10 for measuring the cooling water temperature. The cooling system 12 causes the cooling water to flow into the stack 4 from the left side when the cell voltage is measured for determination of a wet condition, so as to form a relative humidity distribution in the direction of alignment of the cells. A control device 11 determines the wet condition based on the distribution of cell voltages between the cells with low relative humidity and the cells with high relative humidity. |
