Cathode inlet gas humidification system and method for a fuel cell system

摘要

A method and system (10) are provided for humidifying a cathode inlet gas flow (18) in a fuel cell system (12) including a fuel cell (14) and a compressor (16) for supplying the cathode inlet gas flow (18) to a cathode side (20) of the fuel cell (14). According to the method and system (10) heat is transferred from the cathode inlet gas flow (18) to a cathode exhaust flow (24) at a first flow location with respect to the cathode inlet gas flow (18), and water vapor is transferred from the cathode exhaust flow (24) to the cathode inlet gas flow (18) at a downstream flow location from the first flow location with respect to the cathode inlet gas flow (18).