HYDROGEN PRODUCTION APPARATUS, FUEL CELL SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE FUEL CELL SYSTEM

摘要

This invention provides a hydrogen production apparatus, which, even when start-up and shutdown are repeated without conducting purge operation upon shutdown, can more reliably prevent an oxidation degradation of a catalyst within a hydrogen production apparatus, and a fuel cell system and a method for operating the fuel cell system. The hydrogen production apparatus comprises a modification part, a shift reaction part, and a selective oxidation reaction part provided with a selective oxidation catalyst layer packed with a selective oxidation catalyst. In this hydrogen production apparatus, the following means is provided. An oxygen absorbing agent layer packed with an oxygen absorbing agent, which can absorb oxygen and can be regenerated by reducing gas, is provided. The oxygen absorbing agent layer and the selective oxidation catalyst layer are stacked on top of each other so that the oxygen absorbing agent layer is located on the downstream side, and the downstream of the oxygen absorbing agent layer is opened to the air. The fuel cell system comprises the hydrogen production apparatus. The method for operating the fuel cell system comprises the step of opening the downstream of the oxygen absorbing agent layer to the air in the shutdown of the fuel cell system and the step of regenerating the oxygen absorbing agent using a hydrogen-containing gas in the hydrogen production using the hydrogen production apparatus.